Call of the Ancients
by xeikm
Summary: Thedas will fall into a spiral of madness as darkness befalls their world after the Inquisition has come to a close. The child of the Warden and Morrigan will be at the center of all this. His journey will take him all across Thedas where he will encounter new and familiar faces on a quest that will lead him to fighting the most ancient of evils! (Indefinite Hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Welcome to Call of the Ancients! An exciting new collaboration between myself and my co-author Blaid. Think of this fic as a formal Dragon Age III. There might be a few fan theories about Inquisition, but since the game won't be out until next year, we aren't going to rely on those details. We're gonna show greater emphasis on Origins, II, and well the codex entries about everything that's happened prior to the start of Origins. Now, enjoy the start of this new fic. Read and review!**

**Chapter 1**

_9:30 Dragon, the year that the Fifth Blight began and ended. It might've been the shortest Blight in the history of Thedas, but this Blight would drastically change the world forever. _

_Aedan Cousland, known better as the Warden Commander of Ferelden, was the vanquisher of the Archdemon that led the Darkspawn horde through Ferelden. The young man who's family had been slaughtered by a betrayal that would spur him into becoming a Grey Warden to avenge his family and also to protect his homeland from the Darkspawn. During this journey, Aedan had met numerous people and organized Ferelden for war even after the Grey Wardens and Ferelden's king had been brutally slaughtered at the Battle of Ostagar. _

_Within a year, Aedan led his forces to battle against the Archdemon. Humans, elves, and dwarves united together to combat against this threat. The Ferelden Capital of Denerim had nearly been burned to the ground, but the Archdemon would be slain by the Grey Warden, Aedan. And despite the fact that the Warden should've perished when he delivered the fatal blow against the Archdemon, Aedan survived for reasons only those closest to him would know._

_Prior to the battle, the Warden had undergone a Dark Ritual with his Apostate lover, Morrigan. The two had sex prior to the battle against the Archdemon wit hopes that a child would be conceived that would save the Warden from death by transferring the Archdemon's soul into the unborn child. Since he survived the battle, he assumed that the ritual was a success, and wasn't surprised to discover that Morrigan disappeared after the battle was over. _

_Even though he wanted to chase after her, Ferelden needed help more. The Darkspawn were pushed back into the Deep Roads and repairs were underway to restore the country to the way it was before the Blight. And more still needed to be done as the Warden was sent to Amaranthine to restore order and recruit new Grey Wardens into the Order. _

_A new Darkspawn threat would cause the Warden to make a deal with a sentient Darkspawn known as the Architect, while slaying a crazed Broodmother known as the Mother. All of which was done to help the Grey Wardens. _

_Once the Warden's mission was complete in Amaranthine, he would set course to find Morrigan and his child. It had been a year since he last saw her so she assumed the child was already born and he wanted to know what her true attentions were with their child. After a long journey, Aedan would eventually discover Morrigan's location and learn of her plans to raise their son someplace beyond his reach. So instead of stopping her from leaving, the Warden chose to follow Morrigan to this unknown land, and help raise the child that he helped to bring into this world. _

_While the Warden abandoned Thedas, a Champion would rise in the city of Kirkwall. _

_An Apostate Mage named Garrett Hawke would escape the Blight with his family. He would lose his younger sister, Bethany, to the Darkspawn Taint during their escape, but he would succeed in saving his mother and younger brother, Carver._

_In Kirkwall, Garrett and his family were seen as refugees despite the Noble Title that his mother held. After a dangerous expedition into the Deep Roads nearly killed him, Garrett would return to Kirkwall with an immense amount of wealth and would discover that his brother, Carver, had gone to join the Templar Order. Despite the loss of his brother and the trouble of having a Templar in the family could bring, Garrett restored his maternal family's honor and rose to power as a nobleman._

_However, an invasion from the Qunari would put a snag to the peaceful life that Garrett was hoping for. Garrett would use his magic to destroy the Qunari leader, the Arishok, after pushing himself to move forward after the brutal death of his mother at the hands of a crazed Blood Mage. In defeating the Arishok in single combat, Garrett would earn himself the title of Champion._

_Kirkwall would be plunged into further chaos though as tensions between Mages and Templars reached the boiling point. After the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry at the hands of the Champion's companion, Anders, a former Grey Warden, Knight-Commander Meredith would invoke the Right of Annulment to extinguish every Mage in Kirkwall. The battle led to the Champion siding with the Mages as he fought to protect his fellow magicians from the Templar Order. Carver would abandon the crazed Knight-Commander as her mind had become corrupt by a cursed idol made of Red Lyrium. And after an intense battle, the Champion and his companions would defeat the Knight-Commander and the First Enchanter to end the chaos that consumed Kirkwall._

_But in the end, the Champion and his allies would leave Kirkwall as the Chantry sought answers for what happened in Kirkwall in light of a war brewing between Mages and Templars from all over Thedas. The Champion's disappearance made things worse for Thedas as he and the Warden were the only ones who were seen capable of restoring order to the world._

_An Inquisition began to help restore order to Thedas, especially as tares in the Veil unleashed hordes of demons throughout the world. After a long journey, the Inquisitor appointed into power by the Chantry would succeed in repairing the tares, but the damage had been done._

_Chaos reigned throughout Thedas as eighteen years passed since the end of the Fifth Blight. And now…and now a new power was about to rise which was capable of destroying Thedas or saving it from chaos._

* * *

Shooting his arrow at a deer from his hiding place in the thick sea of trees, the Kossith hid a smirk as he hit his mark. The animal fell to the ground as it slowly met its death. The short-horned Kossith slung his bow over his broad shoulders as he made his way over towards his kill. He grabbed the rest of the supplies that he brought with him, fixing the light armor that he wore to make sure that he was protected from the Chasind that roamed these woods.

The Korcari Wilds weren't exactly where the Kossith wanted to spend his time, but orders were orders. The grey-skinned man knew to follow orders, especially since the Basalit-an doesn't exactly tolerate complaining from his travelling companion.

Grabbing the dead deer, he quickly began to harvest out the organs to prepare the animal for consumption. He did this with flawless speed as he didn't want to linger too long alone in the Wilds. The Darkspawn might've been pushed back into the Deep Roads, but their Taint still lingered as the occasional Blighted animal would appear. He was positive that his archery talents were enough to handle anything that came his way, but he also had to remember the Basalit-an that was waiting for him at camp.

The Kossith retrieved the kill and carried it back to the camp which was located about five miles away. He managed to make it back to camp before the sun started to set over the Wilds. The Wilds could be frightening for those who were out on their own. Luckily, the two of them were capable of protecting each other from whatever that might come their way. They had already proven that on a previous occasion, one that neither one really wanted to remember or have repeated.

Camp was a small place as there was only two of them. They were safe though as they kept away from any large settlements, ruins, or heavily Tainted fields. This was one of the safest places for them in the Wilds, but it was made safer by the wards casted over their camp.

Sitting on a stump was a young man who looked as if he hadn't even escaped boyhood yet. His features were remarkably gentle and smooth with his messy, raven curls flowing down to his shoulders. His small frame made him look even smaller because of the leather armor that he wore as he had his sword lying on the ground beside him. It was close enough to be used if an attack was provoked, but his made defense was the magic that this lightly-tanned boy had at his disposal.

The youth blew at the flames to keep them going as he spotted the giant Kossith coming towards him. Kadan braced himself for the lad's snarky comments since he was such a smart mouth and loved to push the Kossith's buttons. Well, to be honest, the lad just enjoyed making everyone that came into contact with him crazy as he acted far too much like a Noble.

"I have our dinner, Young One," said the Kossith as he placed the deer meat by the roasting fire.

A tent was pitched up behind the boy that was their one bit of shelter. Despite the vast difference in size between them, the boy and the Kossith would both sleep in it if the weather turned against them. They were fortunate that they haven't had any bad weather that would provoke something like that to happen since they entered Ferelden.

Looking at the deer, the young man pulled out a knife that was strapped to one of the boots he wore. He plucked off a piece of the deer meat and held it up to the fire so that it could start cocking. "Good work, Kadan," said the young man. "It looks like we'll have plenty to eat for dinner and breakfast. It's a pity that we don't have any seasonings to spice this meal up."

Kadan sat on the ground near the boy as he broke of a leg from the deer. He tied it to a stick and held it towards the fire so that it could cook as well. "You need to learn to survive out in the field, Urien," said the Kossith. "We are away from the luxuries that we have come accustomed to. You need to learn to be happy with what you have."

Urien rolled his blue eyes as he watched the deer meat slowly roast. "That just sounds dreadfully boring and lot of work," sighed Urien. "I don't have the tolerance for such a thing. All I know is that I cannot wait to get away from these filthy woods."

"You're the one who made us come here," said Kadan before taking a bite of the deer. "I was the one who suggested that we go straight to the village."

"After what the last Qunari did there?" said Urien. "There's no way I could hide a massive ox like you. You're bigger than some of the homes I've seen in Ferelden. Now, if we were in Orlais, maybe I can say you were my man-servant."

"Watch that tongue, boy," said Kadan as he eyed his bow and arrow.

Urien could only smirk as he found that his meat was cooked to his satisfaction. He took his first bite from it and savored the fact that at least things were peaceful enough for them to enjoy their meal without the looming threat of being attacked.

The two ate in silence as the sun began to set over their heads with the Wilds being one of the most dreadful places that Urien has found himself in.

* * *

Morning came with the human and Kossith rising up to prepare for the next part of their journey. They heated up the cooked deer by the fire and left the remains behind as they packed up the camp. It was time for them to move forward as Urien had places that they needed to get to before the sun set again.

Kadan had no idea where they were going to next, but followed the youth anyways further into the Wilds.

It took them about four hours to get to their destination. Urien led the way as he followed his instincts to find the place that he was searching for. Kadan carried a majority of the supplies on a cart, mindlessly following the unknown destination that Urien had set for them. The Kossith knew enough of the Wilds and the dangers that lurked here in the woods since he heard of the stories from the Arishok.

Urien continued to lead them down a path until they eventually found what he was looking for. A smile grazed his face as he pointed at a small cottage that ran by a lake. Stopping the cart, Kadan looked at the cottage, feeling that it had seen better days. The place looked like it had been abandoned for years, which was true.

Urien approached the cottage but stopped as he got closer towards the perimeter. Kadan stopped behind him as the young Mage held out his hand to feel the magic that surrounded the place. "It's safe for me to cross," said Urien. "The Witch's wards won't affect me. That's good to know."

As Urien was about to move forward, there was a memory of a story that flashed across Kadan's eyes as he remembered hearing specifically about a cottage in the Wilds. The Kossith grabbed the human's wrist, pulling him back before he could go any further.

"This is the home of Flemeth!" said Kadan. "Do you think it wise to enter the home of one of the most feared witches in Thedas? Even if she is dead?"

Taking his arm back, Urien showed now fear in his face as he crossed the line. He held up his finger to signal Kadan to follow him as he got closer towards the cottage. "Why should I be afraid?" asked Urien. "This is my grandmother's house after all? Grandma Flemeth only has issues with my mother, not with me."

Kadan could only shake his head. He was aware of the boy's parentage, but he still wasn't exactly thrilled with risking his life because of some unknown quest that the boy had. However, Kadan was still bound to the youth and left their supplies behind as he followed Urien into the cottage.

It looked bigger from the outside.

The cottage was more a small hut once inside.

Urien unstrapped his sword from his waist and placed it against the wall. Kadan had to crouch to get inside since the doorway wasn't tall enough for the almost seven foot tall Kossith. Now that they were inside, the hut was practically cleared out as only a few remnants of furniture remained behind. The two looked around with Kadan asking what it was that Urien could possibly be looking for.

"Something I can use to find my mother," said Urien approached an overturned bed. A small trunk was next to it, which led to him bending over to see that it was locked. He casted a simple force spell to break the lock so that he could open it.

Inside the trunk was something he remembered hearing about from his father. Urien pulled out a broken hand-mirror. All of the glass was missing, but the handle and frame were still in sturdy enough condition. This was a start, something that Urien could use to pull off a Locater Spell to find where his mother might be hiding.

Kadan approached the youth, shrugging his shoulders as he saw the hand mirror. "I was expecting a book of spells," said the Kossith. "What significance does a hand mirror have? Is it enchanted?"

"No," said Urien as he got up to his feet and placed it into his satchel. "It just represents the death of my mother's innocence. This will help me to find her."

"When you find Morrigan, what do you plan to do?" asked Kadan.

"All in good time, Kadan," said Urien. "All you need to know for now is that I'm just doing as my father asked." He went back towards the entrance of the hut, picking up his sword to strap it back to his waist. He turned back to Kadan, smiling a little as he raised gloved hands to the back of his head. "We'll set up camp here for tonight, Kadan. The wards left behind by my grandmother will keep us safe. We'll head to the village of Lothering in the morning. Does that sound alright to you?"

Kadan couldn't say anything really against this plan. It wasn't the most ideal, but he could at the very least live with it. "Alright," said the Kossith. "I will retrieve our supplies and go hunting for something to eat. Try not to leave the camp and get yourself killed."

Exiting the hut, Urien took in a breath of fresh air as he watched as Kadan got their cart.

* * *

About an hour had passed and Kadan had yet to return to their camp. Urien understood that his Kossith companion enjoyed the hunt so he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't return for a while more. So he enjoyed the quietness of the camp as he conjured up a small fire so that everything would be ready to prepare whatever Kadan brought.

Urien had left the door and windows open to the hunt to air out the stuffiness of it. He was planning on sleeping in there since it was sturdier shelter and because he didn't feel like sleeping on the ground tonight.

Fixing his pack, Urien felt that a nap was in order. He laid his head down on the pack and closed his eyes to get some rest before Kadan returned with food.

_Sleep quickly overtook the young man as he drifted off into his dreams. Since he was a Mage, Urien was well aware of his presence in the Fade, the Realm of Spirits and Demons. He knew that dangers lurked in the Fade to tempt him as Demons sought out his power. But since he was a child, he never had to worry about Demons since they were downright terrified of him. The power that he wielded made even Pride Demons anxious as they chose to stay away from this Mage. _

_Urien appeared in a dream-like version of Flemeth's hut. This didn't surprise him at all since it was the last thing on his mind so naturally the Fade would recreate this place. Here in the Fade though, the hut was a distorted version that was half-torn, however, the surrounding area appeared to be far more beautiful. _

_A luscious forest with a crystal, clear lake was also near to him. The place looked far better in his dreams then it did in reality. That was no surprise to him though as he understood the way that the Fade warped itself around those with a powerful enough will._

_Urien stepped towards the water with his bare feet being able to talk on water. He slowly walked further into the water as there was something that he sought in the Fade. Well, not so much something, more like someone._

_In his dreams, Urien also found himself to be reunited with him. Today was no different either._

_It always seemed to happen. Urien would always find him in the Fade, the real him too as he knew that no Demon would dare to pretend to be him. Just how he knew when Urien was asleep was a mystery, one that he never had bothered to ask as he just wanted to enjoy this._

_Walking on the water, from the opposite end of the lake, was another young man. He appeared to be just a few years older than Urien, but he behaved in a way made him seem far more mature. Just the way that he walked, the strong confidence was one of the things that lured Urien towards him. _

_The other young man was about half a foot taller than Urien was, and his build was far more athletic with the broad shoulders and thick arms that Urien loved so. His facial features from more chiseled, masculine then Urien's features, and his eyes were a mesmerizing shade of chestnut brown. His brown hair swayed in the gentle breeze that blew in, sweeping both him and Urien as they got closer towards each other._

_"I have missed you, love," said the young man as he reached out to cup Urien's face._

"_And I've missed you," said Urien as he leaned into the touch. "When will I see you in person? I haven't truly seen you since we were children."_

"_I know, love. We will see each other soon enough," whispered the young man. "I will find you, I promise."_

_Leaning in, the two shared a kiss in the Fade with Urien feeling as if the kiss was real. It almost was just as good as it was in reality. But not even the Fade could perfectly copy the satisfaction that he received from his mate's affection._

_At least it was enough to keep him content until they could be reunited._

* * *

Waking up, Urien got up just in time as Kadan arrived to the camp with a few rabbits. It wasn't quite as luxurious as deer meat, but it would do for now until they could make it to the village.

Kadan and Urien worked on preparing their dinner, taking their time to make a delicious enough stew as Urien found some potatoes in his pack that were still good. They ate in silence once more with the moon rising up to put an end to yet another day.

The two retired into the hut with there being a bed for them both. Kadan had to pull the mattress for his bed to the ground since the wooden frame wouldn't support his weight. Taking off the Splintmail armor, Kadan stripped down to only his undergarments before collapsing onto the rotten mattress. At least they were clean by Urien's magic so neither one needed to worry about creatures coming out to spread their diseases.

Urien had to laugh at the way that Kadan fell to sleep as he took off his leather armor as he kept on only a shirt and his small clothes. The young man lay on the bed and looked out the window to see a few stars peeking out from the trees. The sight was rather soothing, almost enough to put him to sleep until Kadan interrupted the peacefulness.

"What is your mission, young one?" asked Kadan. "What is it that you hope to seek by finding your mother?"

"She left my father and I alone," said Urien. "I only want to know why she left us."

"Is that all?" asked Kadan. "What do you hope to gain by finding your mother? How will this change your life?"

Urien pulled himself up from the mattress, looking to the ground where Kadan was sleeping on. The Kossith was rather noisy, which annoyed the young human. However, Urien couldn't blame him for wanting to know more about the journey that he was dragged into.

"I don't expect it to change anything," said Urien, "but I imagine that my search for my mother will lead us to something far more significant than her. I'm sure that even you'll find it an entertaining journey."

"So long as you don't nearly get me killed again, I suppose I can learn to tolerate your unwillingness to share information," said Kadan as he lay back on the mattress.

"You can tolerate me withholding information, but you couldn't handle being a loyal follower of the Qun?" said Urien. "Doesn't that seem odd to you?"

Kadan growled at Urien as he turned away from the human. He mumbled something in the Qunari language that the youth couldn't understand. It was amusing though, which led to the youth falling back onto his mattress and drift off to sleep once more.

A peaceful night's rest was theirs as the start of a journey which would alter Thedas forever awaited Urien and Kadan in the morning.

* * *

END!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first chapter. It's short and it doesn't give out much, but I promise that the next chapter will give you a little more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hello readers, I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of Call of the Ancients. I promise this chapter will be a little more exciting and include some familiar characters along with setting up some of the chains of events we'll see in future chapters. Now, read and review!  
**

**Chapter 2:**

First to rise, Urien had let out a heavy sigh as he woke up from bed and pulled himself up from the mattress in Flemeth's hut. He rubbed his tired eyes as his conscious sleep had been spent alone in the fade since _he _did not show up again like _he _did while the youth slept. It was a bit a bummer, but at least Urien had the promise to keep him motivated enough to get out of bed.

His feet touched the ground, feeling the coolness rising from the wood on this cooler day. It meant that the trek up to Lothering was going to feel a little longer, but it was one that would be tolerated. He pulled his leather boots on, the young man got to work on getting dressed as there was no time to be wasted.

Urien stepped outside the hut to see that the sun was peaking over the tree line. That meant it was particularly early right now, which meant that Kadan probably wouldn't wake up for about an hour. Kossith might be mighty warriors, but they were also heavy sleepers. Urien decided to allow his Rogue companion the peace to sleep as he began to prepare breakfast for them.

Sitting on a tree stump, Urien had a light stew bubbling in the kettle. It would provide them with enough energy to make it to Lothering where they could get their hands on a decent meal at the trading village. The promise of a nice bed also helped to provide Urien with more motivation about their coming trip. If things went as planned then they would arrive to Lothering some time at mid-afternoon.

The meal was prepared with Urien eating alone for a while before he heard loud yawning from inside the hut. Not long after that, Kadan emerged from the hut in his small clothes. The Kossith poured himself a bowl of stew and mumbled something that the youth couldn't quite understand since his skills in translating the Qunari language wasn't perfect.

Kadan was lucky that Urien knew just enough of the language to save him from the title of Tal-Vashoth by restoring the Kossith's honor and purpose.

"Once you're done eating, get dressed, Kadan," said Urien. "I want to make it to Lothering before evening."

The Kossith simply mumbled that he would do as instructed.

* * *

Nestled further north, safely outside the Wilds, and near the Brecillian Forest was the village of Lothering.

Before the Fifth Blight, Lothering was a small hamlet that helped serve as a bridge for trade between the Chasind and Ferelden. The Darkspawn had destroyed the village though during the Blight, but the village had since been rebuilt. Now, Lothering was a far larger village then it had been prior to the Blight with many people returning to reside in their proper homes or newcomers arriving to start their farms and shops.

Lothering welcomed home a particular son that had escaped to Kirkwall with his family during the Blight. He had narrowly survived the Battle of Ostagar after King Cailan had been betrayed by Teyrn Loghain. The man had gone off to Kirkwall with his elder brother and mother in search of family, but ended up leaving them to become a Templar.

Carver Hawke sat outside his new home in Lothering. The raven-haired man was busy polishing his sword as he was doing this shirtless with sweat glistening off his athletic build. He was fortunate that his body stayed so strong even though he was a few years shy of turning forty.

In the village, Carver found more than just sanctuary after everything that happened at Kirkwall, he found a home. The childhood home that he grew up in had been burned to the ground by the Darkspawn, and the ground also was far too tainted to work with cultivation. That wasn't too much of a disappointment for Carver since he always hated farming. He was fortunate then that the Elders allowed him to train and lead the local militia since his experience as a Templar made him the best candidate for the job.

Even the small Chantry blessed his position, despite, Carver's hand in the death of Knight-Commander Meredith. Granted, Garrett was the one responsible for her death, but Carver was also tainted by the battle that forced the Hawke brothers and their companions to flee Kirkwall.

At least Carver didn't live in Lothering alone. He was fortunate to have a lover with him to help take care of the warrior.

The door to the one-bedroom cabin opened up with that lover coming out. A cup was handed over to Carver along with a clean towel. Carver started to smile as he took the gifts, smiling as he looked up to his lover.

A young man lingered by the doorway, smiling at Carver as his youthful features betrayed his age. He was fifteen years younger than Carver, but the young man's delicate features were made stronger by the fact that he was elf-blooded, an offspring between an elf and a human. "You're looking very dashing, polishing your sword, Ser Hawke," said the young man. "You might want to put on some proper clothing though before some girl comes in and offers you her _peaches_."

Carver couldn't help but to laugh at the mention of the former girlfriend he had in Lothering back when he was just a teenager. It might've been a mistake to mention the girl that he had given his virginity too, but it was too late now. "Don't fret, my love," said Carver. "I could never leave you, Pyra, not even for all of the gold in Orlais!" Abandoning the longsword, Carver arose to his feet, maintaining eye contact with the younger man's grey eyes. Soon enough, the two exchanged a gentle kiss before Carver batted his dark blue eyes at Pyra, forcing the younger male to give in.

Pyralis Surana had always been putty in Carver's hands, even back at the Gallows in Kirkwall. The Elf-blooded Mage tried not to think about it too hard, but the Gallows was where he spent much of his young life, it was also, where he had first met Carver when he was a new recruit. Despite all the suffering in the Circle, Carver was the one ray of light that Pyra had always clung to in order to escape the pain.

Pyra leaned away from Carver with his dark blond hair being swept up in a light breeze that kicked up. He shuffled around a bit in his robes too as he retrieved a shirt that was hanging on a wall hook. "You should finish your sword soon, Carver," said Pyra. "Our classes start soon. The villagers will be angry if we're late again."

"Let them wait," said Carver as he put on his linen shirt. "It's not like they'd revolt. I'm the best swordsman in the village. I'd like to see them try and get after me."

"Don't let pride get the best of you, Carver," said Pyra. "In case you've forgotten, Mages aren't the only ones susceptible to demons!"

Carver could only shake his head as he sheathed his sword. He knew this to be true though, especially after what he saw in Kirkwall, but chose to ignore Pyra just out of his own personal amusement. He loved when his half-elf lover got fussy. Now, he was able to understand why his brother, Garrett, had enjoyed teasing his Elven lover, Fenris, so much.

Extending his hand out to him, Carver eyed Pyra until the Mage retrieved his staff from the cabin and followed him to the Chantry.

* * *

Carver and Pyra arrived to the Chantry were the crowd was already waiting. Several men and women approached Carver for instruction since he was their Sword Master. As for Pyra, there were two pre-pubescent children waiting closer towards the Chantry, waiting for their lessons to begin.

The couple separated to do their assigned tasks for Lothering. Carver took his students closer towards the field where they had plenty of space to swing their wooden swords without hitting any bystanders. However, he kept close enough in case something went wrong with Pyra's lesson. Not that he didn't have faith in his Mage lover; he was more concerned that his two students' magic might turn against the village.

Carver had seen firsthand how sour magic could turn after the time he spent in Lothering. It took all the coercion skills that Carver had to get the local Chantry to allow Pyra to teach magic to the village's only Mages since the Ferelden Circle was no longer an option. The Mage-Templar War had left the Circle Tower devastated with the Mages escaping to the Wilds, while the Templars went on a rampage because of their Lyrium addictions. It was fortunate for Carver that he never developed the addiction since he hadn't been a full-fledged Templar long enough.

The Lothering Elders and Revered Mother of the Chantry came outdoors to watch Pyra's lesson. They were amongst the many watchers who made sure that the Elf-blooded male kept his lessons as appropriate as possible. Pyra made it a point on his first lesson to make it so that his students wouldn't be afraid of their powers, but to always remain cautious of any spell that they cast.

"Magic is a tool to serve us, not to corrupt us," said Pyra as he did at the start of every lesson. "Mages are not monsters, but we can become one if we allow our powers to control us. We mustn't fall for that trap, but we mustn't fear our power either. Fear and Pride are what turns Mages into Abominations. Even the greatest of Mages must remember that they walk on a fine line between Order and Chaos. So long as you remember this then you have nothing to be afraid of!"

Striking his wooden staff to the ground, Pyra created a wave of blue magic that spread wide. He always made it a point to show a new spell at the start of every lesson to show his students what self-control brought, but it was also done to reinforce the principals of magic. The same principles that he learned from the Kirkwall Circle that had been reinforced from the time he spent learning magic under the Champion of Kirkwall.

Pyra placed his staff on the ground and smiled at his two students: Kylie and Rain. The Mage turned to his young Apprentices, asking them if they were ready to test their Mind Blast spells. This was one of the more basic spells, but it was one that often could save a Mage's life.

"When caught in battle," said Pyra, "a simple Mind Blast can save a Mage from death. We strike the mental fortitude of our enemies to leave them stunned. Then it'll give us enough time to cast a stronger spell to really destroy our enemies. And that is one of the ways how a single Mage can defend a village from invaders."

Kylie was the first to rise, ready to test the spell. Pyra pretended as though he was going to attack her to provide the young Mage with enough motivation to attack. As Pyra pretended to cast a spell, Kylie immediately cast her spell to stop him in his tracks.

Proud of his student, Pyra turned towards Rain so that he could be tested as well. Rain had a flawless technique, but his spell wasn't as powerful as Kylie's spell. Pyra knew that Rain was holding back since he was still scared of his magic so it would be up to Pyra to have to really get the boy moving.

The magic lessons continued for a few more hours until Carver was done with his class as well. Pyra ended his lessons for the day as well, sending Kylie and Rain off to their homes. The couple was thanked by the Elders for their service to the village.

Carver wiped his sweaty brow as he decided it was time to head to the village tavern for a meal.

* * *

It seemed like all the men in Lothering were at the tavern that night. The Wild Mabari was normally like this though, but this night was particularly rowdy. Carver felt like a brawl could emerge at any moment as half of the men were drunk off their asses, which was never a good thing. He kept Pyra on alert to cast a spell to keep these men from being part of a senseless slaughter.

The couple sat at a small table on the tavern's second floor. The tavern had been destroyed during the Blight, but it was one of the first buildings to be rebuilt as a way to keep moral high for the reconstruction of the village.

Carver swallowed down his roast as he noted the tavern becoming exceptionally quiet all of a sudden. He then noticed Pyra's eyes widening, which caused him to look back to spot what the lack of commotion was all about.

Two newcomers had arrived to the tavern, one a young man while the other was a Kossith. Urien and Kadan weren't having much luck as the villagers were not so pleased to see the Kossith that Urien was accompanied by.

"Maker's Breath," whispered Carver. "A Qunari in Lothering. This cannot end well."

"Let's just hope it doesn't turn out as bad Kirkwall," said Pyra as he brought his guard up.

The two abandoned their table and made their way down the stairs just in time for the tavern to get loud. It was almost impossible to understand what these men were saying, but Carver was able to get the gist of what was going on. The Kossith wasn't welcomed here, but the newcomers were unwilling to leave.

A man stepped up with a dagger in hand that he pointed at the young man. "That thing isn't welcome here!" spat the villager. "All those horn-heads have done is bring us trouble! The last one that came through Lothering brutally murdered an entire family!"

"He's not going to harm anyone," said Urien. "We just want lodging for the night. Is that too much for you backwater men to understand? Maker's Breath! The Chasind weren't as moronic as you lot."

"What did you say, boy!" shouted another villager as he drew his sword at him.

That was enough to set off the Kossith. The grey-skinned man grabbed the villager's sword and pulled it away from him. He then smashed the villager in the face with his fist, sending the loudmouth to the ground.

The young man drew his sword from his sheath, ready to battle as well if necessary.

However, Pyra arrived to create a magical line between the two parties. This line of magic prevented the villagers from springing forward to attack the young man and Kossith, giving Carver the chance to get between them all.

"There will be no blood spilt in the tavern!" shouted Carver. "If you wish to fight then go hunt some wild bears."

"Ser Carver!" said a villager. "These two will bring nothing but trouble to Lothering! You know what the Qunari, Sten, did. That poor child that survived the ordeal is still traumatized to this day by the loss of his family."

"I do," said Carver, "but that was a different Qunari and a different time. You cannot judge all by the actions of one, I've certainly had to learn that lesson the hard way many times." Gaging everyone in the village, Carver finally told Pyra to take away his barrier. The Mage did as he was asked as the newcomers put their weapons away. "Now, you two, what can I do to help you?"

"All we need is lodging for the night," said Urien, "but clearly these men won't allow that."

"Then you'll stay at our cabin," said Carver as he pushed the two out. He didn't want to linger in the tavern as that would only encourage the villagers to riot. The sooner he got these two away then the better for the tensions that lingered in the air.

Pyra followed them out, watching things carefully as well in case magic would be needed. He prayed that wouldn't be the case as he turned towards the newcomers. As they made their way to the cabin, names were exchanged as Carver kept on trying to get more information for them.

Urien only shared what was absolutely necessary as he entered the cabin. Kadan stayed silent as always as he sat down on a nearby chair that was sturdy enough to support his weight.

Carver and Pyra sat down on a small bench, continuing to ask questions about these newcomers.

"We simply need lodging for the night," said Urien. "And we'll need to restock on supplies before we move on. We're heading for Ostagar in the morning."

"Ostagar!" said Carver, his voice obviously rising at the mere mention of the ruins. "Why would you go there?"

"I attend to request for an item in the Dalish Keeper's possession," said Urien.

"Request or take?" asked Pyra as he was well aware of human's nature.

"Request," stressed Urien. "The Dalish owe my father a debt."

A sigh escaped from Carver's throat as he remembered the nightmare of Ostagar. It had taken him two years to forget the bloodbath that he saw there and how he narrowly escaped being murdered by the Darkspawn army. "If you intend on going to Ostagar then it is best you have escorts," said Carver. "Lothering cannot afford a war with the Dalish, and I personally wouldn't like to see a bloodbath. Pyra and I will join you on this trip to Ostagar."

The young man didn't seem affected by what Carver said. Urien really didn't care one way or the other as he ran a hand through his hair. "If that is your wish then so be it," said Urien. "It would make it easier to fend off attacks from bandits."

"Then we'll leave in the morning," said Carver as he stood from his bench.

Pyra only remained silent as he wondered what kind of trouble Carver was going to get him into.

* * *

Sleeping arrangements had been made with everyone getting a good night's rest before the trip to Ostagar. The four of them left early in the morning in order to ensure that they reached the Dalish camp before evening. None of them wanted to risk spending a night out in the middle of the Wilds, especially Urien and Kadan who were tired of dodging bandits.

Carver dressed himself in his leather armor as he retrieved a greatsword that had been forged by the local blacksmith. It was a strong weapon, which would easily cleave through armor and provide him with some form of protection against other weapons. Pyra dressed in a tunic and cloth pants since he didn't want to risk revealing he was a mage to the wrong crowd. He almost second-guessed taking his staff with him, but he figured it wouldn't raise that much of an alarm.

Waiting outside, Urien was growing impatient as Kadan adjusted his bow and pack of arrows. Carver and Pyra led their party outside of the village where they would travel south to the ruins.

The trip was rather uneventful, which was a good thing. No wild animals or bandits attacked their small party so it made the trek down to Ostagar tolerable.

It still wasn't pleasant for Carver when they arrived outside of the Tevinter Imperium's ruins. He clenched onto his sword as he remembered the army that had gathered at Ostagar to demolish the Darkspawn horde only to be betrayed by one of their own. Many good men died that day; Carver remembered the horror as he barely managed to escape the ordeal after losing all of his friends from Lothering to the Darkspawn.

Pyra reached out to take Carver's hand, pulling him back into reality. A smile formed on Carver's face as he turned back to the ruins, seeing that they were covered by Dalish banners. The Dalish received the ruins and the area around it as a boon from their help in ending the Blight, a gift from King Alistair and the Hero of Ferelden, the two Grey Wardens who successfully requested their aid.

Urien led the party towards the Dalish camp where they all felt arrows on their heads. The Dalish Elves were a weary bunch. Despite the peace that they had since acquiring these lands, the Dalish couldn't abandon their old habits of not trusting humans after all the horrors that their people suffered over the centuries.

Archers were on top of towers, while a gate opened up. A Dalish Hunter stepped forward; dressed in green armor as two other hunters were beside him. "What is it you want, Shem?" asked a Dalish Hunter. "What do you desire from the People?"

"I wish to speak with your Keeper," said Urien. "I need to ask Keeper Lanaya of a favor."

"You know the name of our Keeper?" said the astonished Hunter. "Fine, Shem. But remember, our arrows will kill you if you bring harm to us."

Urien nodded his head, assuring the Dalish Hunter that he didn't not wish to do anything like that. He turned towards his party, noticing that Carver and Pyra were relatively calm as this didn't bother them. He made sure that Kadan would behave as well as they were escorted deeper into the fortress.

They passed many stone statues, remains of the Imperium's rule. Carver was grateful to see that Darkspawn Taint had been cleared from the area. It was fortunate that the Darkspawn didn't have much time to set up camp at Ostagar, which made the cleanup relatively easy. It also helped that the Hero of Ferelden had returned to Ostagar to retrieve King Cailin's armor and to destroy the Darkspawn that lingered in this area.

The party was taken further into camp where more Dalish began to appear. Carver thought he recognized some of these elves; some even appeared to recognize him as well. He kept his thoughts to himself though as he didn't want to risk raising any type of alarm as he remained close to Pyra who didn't get any dirty looks due to his Elf-blood.

Standing at an altar of the Dalish Creators was an older Elven woman. She wasn't as old as Keeper Maratheri, the Keeper that Carver had met, but this Keeper was getting up there in terms of age even if she was aging gracefully.

Urien stopped, letting out a Dalish greeting to the Keeper that alarmed her.

Keeper Lanaya was taken aback by this as was many of the other members of her clan. She didn't allow this to last though as she returned the greeting as was custom. "Forgive me, human," said the Keeper, "it is rare for us to meet one who knows our language. Now, who might you and your friends be?"

"You may simply call me Urien, Keeper," said the young man.

"Pyra Surana."

"Kadan."

"Carver Hawke."

The Keeper paused when she heard Carver's name. She raised her hand to her jaw, which helped it to dawn on her. "Hawke? Ah! You're the Champion of Kirkwall's brother," said the Keeper "I have heard of you from the clan that used to live in Kirkwall. After their Keeper…passed on, they came to join our clan here in Ostagar."

Carver flinched as he thought about that. He hadn't been part of his brother's party when that occurred, but he knew of how Keeper Maratheri perished to protect Merrill from the Pride Demon that sought to posses her. It was fortunate that Garrett was able to calm down the situation enough to where he didn't need to fight the Dalish who were mourning the loss of their Keeper. However, it did result in Merrill being forever banished from her clan, which only fueled the guilt she felt.

"I'm glad to hear that they are part of your clan now," said Carver. "My brother and I were worried about what would happen to them."

"Yes, they are happy here," said Keeper Lanaya as it was clear she was more willing to be helpful. "Now, Urien, what is it that you wish to ask of me?"

Urien stepped closer towards her, leaving his sword behind with Kadan to ensure the archers that he wasn't there to threaten her. He stopped a few feet shy of her though as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I wish to have Zathrian's personal grimoire," said Urien. "I am in need of a spell that is likely to be hidden in its pages."

Clear resistance took form on Lanaya's face as she had no idea how Urien knew about the tomb. She even couldn't understand how he would know the name of the Keeper that came before her, the same Keeper that had laid a werewolf curse on the humans from the Wilds. Word couldn't possibly spread as the humans were far too afraid of the Dalish casting another spell like that one.

"I cannot simply hand over that to you," said the Keeper. "That…that text contains too many powerful spells. In the wrong hands…it is just far too dangerous."

Urien shook his head though as he wasn't accepting that as an answer. He knew that there was only one way to convince her as he spoke more Dalish words to her that she would understand the meaning of right away. He recited the words to her, which sounded far more like a poem than anything else as the string of syllables carried no logical meaning, but there was purpose behind it.

Keeper Lanaya was surprised once more as she automatically recited the other verse without hesitation. She couldn't believe that Urien knew these words, but it came to her quickly enough as to how he would know these words. "I should've seen it sooner," said Lanaya. "Your father, his name is Aedan, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Urien. "My father is Aedan Cousland, the Grey Warden that saved your people from Winterfang and the werewolves."

Carver and Pyra were taken back when they heard that. They couldn't believe what they just heard that not only did the Hero of Ferelden have a child, but that they were in the presence of that child.

From there, Keeper Lanaya knew she had no other choice. She asked for a moment as she turned over towards a nearby trunk where she retrieved what he sought. "Careful, Son of the Warden," said the Keeper. "We are grateful to the aid that your father gave us. And we will repay this debt to him through you, but this grimoire holds power that can sway an honest man to perform dark acts. The curse that Zathrian used is in this text, I ask that you not allow this power to lure you in."

Turning back, the Keeper presented Urien with the leather bound back that he sought. The cover itself was relatively plain with just a few Dalish markings on it. Urien accepted this as he assured Lanaya that he didn't seek the power. All he wanted was one spell located in it, one to help him find someone he was searching for.

With the debt paid, the Keeper wished Urien and his party luck as she had the Hunters provide them with a meal before escorting them to some cots that they could sleep on for the night.

The grimoire was safely locked away in Urien's pack as they exited the Dalish camp the next morning.

* * *

The party took the same trail that they had taken to Ostagar the previous day. They weren't expecting any trouble at all since the road was perfectly clear and the weather was pleasant enough.

Carver asked Urien what he sought with the grimoire's spells as they made their way up the trail. Urien simply said to the warrior that he was just looking for someone close to him and that he needed a spell in the grimoire to find them. It was obvious enough that he wasn't going to get a clearer answer then that so Carver dropped the subject as he went forward.

They kept moving along the trail when rustling in the woods caught their attention.

Pausing for a moment, the rustling got louder. Kadan pulled his bow out along with an arrow as he took aim. Carver and Urien had their swords drawn, while Pyra held onto his staff as he conjured an Arcane Shield around each of them.

Emerging from the woods were several men with a glazed look in their eyes. The men were dressed in ragged leathers with daggers drawn out. These men were clearly bandits with the intention of stealing from the party and murdering them too if necessary to get what they desired.

"No mercy for our enemies!" shouted Kadan as he fired the first arrow at one of them.

The arrow struck a bandit in the eye, killing him instantly. The other seven bandits sprang forward to battle the party.

Carver swung his greatsword forward to kill one of the bandits by slicing open his chest. He swung the sword back to stab another through the chest.

Urien kicked a bandit aside before cut the throat of another. He returned his attention to the bandit that he had knocked down before twisting his sword around to plunge it into the man's chest.

Pyra fired bolts of magic at two bandits to stun them briefly. He spun his body back around as he lifted several rocks from the ground to fire them as projectiles which successfully ripped through these men.

Kadan pulled a dagger from the back of his waist as a bandit got too close for his archery talents to successfully kill. So he simply went for the throat as he plunged the dagger into the bandit.

Taking steps back, all of the bandits were dead on the ground as they were relatively easy to kill. It was clear that each of them was a talented fighter, but even they had to admit that this victory was a little off as things felt too simple.

"This is usually the part where a horde of bandits emerge from the woods," said Carver.

"Or something else," said Pyra as he looked at the corpses. "Something isn't right. Normally, bandits would threaten you before going for a kill."

"They were suspiciously quiet," admitted Kadan as held onto his bow and dagger.

"That does sound about right," whispered Urien.

Pyra tightened his grip on his sword as he approached the corpses. He wanted to search them to see if there was anything off when suddenly the bodies began to erupt with a surge of magic that forced the young Mage to step back. He held up his arm to cover him from the light that came from the corpses as a vicious howl could be heard.

All four of them were shocked as they saw seven; cloaked figures arrive from the corpses. Carver shouted that these were Demons as he held up his greatsword. He recognized these to be Sloth Demons, lesser Demons but powerful nonetheless.

The Demons gave out a howl that caused Pyra's body to freeze out of fear. Even after everything that he taught his Apprentices, he couldn't help but to freeze when he saw so many Demons around him. It reminded him too much of what happened at Kirkwall.

Urien sprang into action as he left his sword behind and took Pyra's staff. He slammed the staff to the ground to cause several icicles to rise from the ground to trap the Sloth Demons. Then he snapped his fingers to call down a variety of lightning bolts from the sky to strike the Demons to send them away into oblivion.

The Sloth Demons were no more along with the corpses of the bandits. Pyra was able to snap out of his fear as Urien handed back his staff.

"You're a Mage too?" Pyra said, staring at Urien.

Urien nodded his head as he went over towards Carver. He remembered the older man telling him that he was an ex-Templar so his knowledge would come in handy. "Those Demons weren't just possessing those men," said Urien. "This attack was just too random to be that simple."

"I agree," said Carver as he handed Urien his sword back. "Demons normally only attack when their territory is disturb or when they're seeking something."

"Or if they're under the command of another Demon or a powerful Mage," said Kadan.

They were all frightened by those two possibilities. If there was something else out, something powerful then it meant that, they needed to leave now. Thedas was no longer a safe place as too many powerful Demons roamed free after escaping the Fade. They couldn't risk their safety by hanging out in the Wilds for much longer after they've already been attacked once.

Quickly, their body moved to make their return to Lothering before something else could happen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: WOO! Another fun filled chapter for Call of the Ancients. I hope that everyone enjoys it. P.S. Keep an eye out for my Teen Wolf fic "Dark Horse" which is gonna be coming out sooner. Now, read and review! **

**Chapter 3:**

Returning to the small hut in Lothering, the group had fallen asleep that night without eating any dinner after their ordeal against the Sloth Demons that attacked on their way back from Ostagar. The creatures were far more powerful than Urien had anticipated which is what led to him collapsing on the small bed that Carver and Pyra had in their guest bedroom. Kadan had no choice but to sleep on the ground once more, but at least they were able to find something soft that he could use as a bed so that even he could have a comfortable sleep.

Everyone needed the sleep as everyone had a dreamless slumber that night. Even Pyra and Urien were so mentally fatigued that their trips to the Fade didn't haunt them as the normally would. They slept through everything until morning came.

The sound of rooster making their morning call forced everyone to wake up.

Hunger was the first thing that befell them all as breakfast was a must have. Pyra was the first to enter the kitchen and got to work on preparing oatmeal for everyone so that they could have something filling as there was much for them to discuss that morning.

Urien, Carver, and Kadan waited at the table where they were served. The party needed to figure out what was next on the agenda since it was clear that there was something in the works in this world. There was just something about the demons and how they were attacked, which led to them trying to figure out how to solve this puzzle.

"What do you think we should do now?" asked Pyra. "Clearly, we're all dragged into this demon problem now. We all have to figure out our next move."

"It's impossible to go on the offensive if we have no idea who our enemies are," said Kadan. "The best we can do is more forward, keep our guard up, and hope that our enemies reveal themselves to us."

"But what do we do until then?" asked Carver as he finished his oatmeal.

Urien licked his spoon clean as he looked out the window at the front of the cabin. "We need to go to Highever," said Urien. "I feel that we must reach out to my father's family. Gaining connection with the Ferelden nobility can only work to our advantage."

Carver snorted as he heard the young man's plan. While it would be reasonable enough to most people, Carver knew that Urien was forgetting a crucial part of the plan. "Say we make it to the Highever Estate, what do you intend to tell the guards?" asked Carver. "You father disappeared for years, everyone assumes he died. There is possibly nobody who knows of the fact that he had gotten your mother pregnant. How do you intend to prove that you are his son?"

"I have an idea," said Urien, simply. "Don't try to worry so much, Carver."

"My brother said the same thing," said Carver. "And every time he said that, we got into trouble. If I end up in a prison cell in my small clothes because they found you guilty of impersonating nobility, I'm going to kill you."

"Me too," said Pyra.

"I have similar sentiments," said Kadan.

Rolling his eyes, Urien found their lack of faith to be outstanding. It wasn't like he would lead them into such danger without having a functional plan in mind. Come on, he wasn't that foolish. He knew that he couldn't just walk into Highever without proof of his lineage.

Luckily, for him that his father had gave him something that he could use to prove his blood.

* * *

The next morning, the course was set. Highever was their destination as the party got to work on preparing for their journey. Carver and Pyra were fortunate that emissaries from Redcliffe were on their way to town whom were fully capable of taking care of the trainings for the local militia and the Mage students. It meant that those two could leave their duties behind them as they made their way forward on the journey with Urien and Kadan.

Urien carefully placed the Zathrian's Grimoire in his bag where it would be safest. He didn't want to risk anyone getting their hands on such a dangerous tome, especially since he wasn't fully aware of all the magic that was written onto its pages.

The journey to Highever would take at least three days on foot.

Kadan and Carver would take turns dragging their cart along, both men wishing that they had some kind of beast of burden to do the work for them. Pyra kept walking alongside the cart as he looked around the trails for any suspicious activity. Urien also helped with this task as none of them wanted to be taken off guard by any Demons dressed up as bandits.

Luck, however, was on their side for the moment. Aside from the occasional rainstorm, nothing attacked them on their journey through the Imperial Highway to Highever. This was fortunate as Carver mentioned to the rest of the group that he was used to there being at least wild animals that would attack on their way through any part of Ferelden.

On the third day of their journey, they managed to make it to Highever shortly before evening. They knew that they couldn't just enter the Highever Estate at this time of day so they made their way to the local inn where they could get some rest.

Aside from the occasional strange looks that Kadan gained, nothing horrible happened to them on the way to the inn. They were even lucky to find out that there was lodging that the four of them had for a relatively reasonable fee. The reduced fee was partly because the owner, a rather plump woman, found Carver to be very attractive due to rugged appearance. This embarrassed Carver to no end, while Pyra found the situation to be hilarious despite the fact that some woman was flirting with his boyfriend.

As the party settled into their room, they heard whispers from the staff that helped to run the inn. They didn't exactly hear everything, but one thing did stand out from everyone that they said.

King Alistair was to visit Highever, and he was scheduled to arrive that morning.

When he heard that caused Urien to beam with joy as he found an even easier way to prove his royal lineage without having to fight through any trials. The King of Ferelden was a former Grey Warden, one of the Grey Wardens responsible for ending the Fifth Blight before it destroyed all of Ferelden. Urien's father was the leader of the group despite Alistair being the senior Warden. Also, the King knew of the ritual that Aedan and Morrigan had on the eve of the final battle; the king knew that Aedan had conceived a child with the Witch so he was aware of Urien's existence.

Locking the door up once everyone was inside, Urien continue to beam with joy. "This is perfect!" said Urien. "I couldn't have planned this out better myself!"

Throwing their belongings onto the bed, Kadan felt that this was just too easy in fact. His instincts told them that they needed to be prepared for the worst as he turned towards Carver whom the Kossith had been getting along with relatively well since the start of their journey. Despite the fact that Carver's brother, the Champion of Kirkwall, had slain so many Qunari, Kadan and Carver had a similar way of thinking that led to mutual understanding.

Both of them worried about what tomorrow would bring them when they confronted not just Teyrn Fergus Cousland, but also King Alistair Theran. Unless they played their cards right, things could end very badly for them.

As Urien was thrilled and Kadan worried about things with Carver, Pyra simply sat on the bed he was to share with Carver with an oblivious expression on his face. Pyra had no idea of how to make of this particular situation, but something was telling him to trust Urien and that everything would turn out just fine.

At least, that's what he was hoping for. Pyra was reasonable enough to understand that you can't worry about events beyond your control.

So, the party would get some rest before the royal coming out that was set to happen tomorrow.

* * *

_Sleeping soundly in bed, Urien's body remained in Thedas, while his mind wandered off into the Fade where the Realm of Spirits awaited him. He floated into the world of dreams, awakening in an empty field within the Fade. It was a replica of the rich fields that surrounded Highever, creating an image of his father's home. _

_Urien sat at the center of the field, waiting for him to show up. The wait wasn't long. Urien eventually found that he wasn't alone in the Fade as the echoes of footsteps reached out even in this imaginative realm._

"_You continue to keep me waiting, Draco," said Urien. "You know that I don't like being kept waiting."_

_A smirk grew on the young man's face as he approached Urien. The elder boy went towards the field, reaching out to place his hand over Urien's shoulder. "Forgive me, love," said Draco. "I know that you're upset with me, but you'll understand that I'm doing everything for a good reason. Thedas is in grave danger."_

"_Obviously," said Urien as he rolled his eyes. "This world has been fucked since the moment it was created by the Maker."_

"_It's in desperate need of salvation," said Draco, "and that is what I'm working towards."_

_The tone in which Draco spoke raised alarms in Urien's head as he turned back to the man that held a part of his heart. Urien rose to his feet, nervous by what Draco had meant by that. "How do you intend on bringing about salvation?" asked Urien._

_Draco raised a finger to his lips, blowing out a soft sound to tell Urien to keep quiet. "You'll see it soon enough," said the young man. Urien wasn't exactly thrilled by that response; especially he knew how mischievous Draco could be. Ever since they were kids, Draco had been found of 'games' that never ended well for Urien. "As for now, why don't you and I play our game? I'm sure you know which one I am talking about."_

_Before Urien had the chance to protest, Draco was on top of him. Clothes were already gone, as both of them knew exactly what was going to happen. Draco always got his way with Urien. He was just that convincing, always able to push Urien along anyway that he saw fit. Draco was just that good at attacking Urien's weak points. _

_And that's always how Urien ended up on bottom as he found himself penetrated by Draco in the Fade._

* * *

Morning came with Carver being the first to awaken. A deep sigh escaped from the warrior's throat as he shifted about uncomfortably on the mattress. He turned towards the side where Pyra was still sleeping, his dreams taking him deep within the Fade.

No matter how hard he tried, Carver never could get Pyra to tell him what he sees in the Fade. Back when he still lived in Kirkwall with his brother, Carver couldn't get Garrett to shut up about the things he'd see in the Fade. All of these "amazing" things and how he stood up to a powerful Demon that sought to turn him into an Abomination.

Carver never worried about Fade stories with Bethany. She almost never talked about the things she saw in the Fade unless it was something particularly terrifying. Only then would she confide in her twin brother, seeking strength from him to give her strength to face her Demons.

A knot took form in the back of Carver's throat as he thought about his poor sister. How he wished he had been strong enough to stop the Ogre from killing her.

Rising from bed, Carver walked over towards the only window in the room. He looked out of it to see a long precession in the works as it was clear that His Majesty was here.

* * *

King Alistair was as handsome as ever, even though he was well within his fifties. The King of Ferelden entered the Highever Estate with his guard around him, something he still found frustrating considering the fact that he was an ex-Templar and ex-Grey Warden. He was fully capable of taking care of himself, but royalty always needed to be protected by dozens of bodyguards, especially when that royal was the king.

When Alistair entered the estate, he found Fergus Cousland waiting for him by the entrance. The Teyrn of Highever welcomed the king to his home, especially considering the past that they had with each other. The Teyrn, about as old as the King, didn't age as gracefully. He was a little rough around the edges from the ordeals of his life, but he was a firm and strong Teyrn that was fiercely loyal to his king.

"It is good to see you, my King," said Fergus.

"The pleasure is all mind, Teyrn," said Alistair as they did their formal dance.

Once the two ventured further into the estate, the two became less formal with each other. They conversed, checking upon each other as it had been a few months since they last met. They did the civil talk before they needed to move on to more pressing matters.

The situation in Orlais was one of their top priorities at the moment.

Fergus mentioned to Alistair of some the whispers from their cable of spies that he had heard since they last met. Thedas has yet to return to normal since the Inquisition occurred. While Ferelden was spared from the worst of things, there was a storm brewing that would ravish their country if they weren't cautious.

"The Empress won't be able to maintain control much longer," said Fergus. "If things finally collapse then the conquering nobles will try to take control of Ferelden."

"Well, the only bright side is that the Circle of Magi remains under our control," said Alistair. "We can always turn to the Mages for protection. The Mages still work with us, even if the Templars have unfortunately gone a little crazy."

A sigh escaped from Fergus's throat as he was well aware of that. Losing the Templars didn't make things easier on them, but it was like the king said, at least the Mages were loyal.

The two continued their meeting when a guard entered the great room with four guests in tow. Urien, Carver, Kadan, and Pyra had done a bit of dirty work in order to grant themselves entrance into the room where the King and Teyrn were in.

The knight collapsed to his knees as a wisp of magic escaped from his body. Urien examined his nails since he had used his magic to get the guard to help them slip past all of the others. It helped to make entrance easier, but it wasn't exactly something that the rest of the party was thrilled by.

The Teyrn demanded to know who they were as he drew his sword out. However, King Alistair stopped Fergus from attacking anyone as he turned his sights towards one amongst the party who looked familiar to him. "I think I remember you," Alistair said to Carver. "You're from Kirkwall, right? You were a Templar under the Knight-Commander's service, and your brother is the Champion, am I right?"

"Yes, Your Highness," said Carver as he bowed.

"Forget him, Alistair," said Urien as he stepped to the front of the group. "We're here for me."

"Excuse me?" said Alistair.

"What a rude brat!" said Fergus. "Forgive me, Your Highness. I don't see how this Mage could've broken into the estate. This has never happened."

Smirking, Urien pulled out his satchel as he took something out from it. He kept his mouth shut as he tossed it towards the Teyrn, which Fergus caught without any hesitation. But the Teyrn didn't look at it as he continued to glare at the young man.

Urien found that to be frustrating as he told the Teyrn to look at it. Taking in a deep breath, Fergus opened his hand to find a ring in the palm of his hand, one that looked terribly familiar to him. It took him only but a moment to recognize the golden band and the diamond at its center as the ring that had belonged to his mother before she had died defending Highever from Arl Howe's army.

"How did you get this ring?" growled Fergus.

"From my father," said Urien. "He told me that I shouldn't just swoop in without showing it off. After all, swooping is bad."

Fergus was too focused on the ring to pay attention to what Urien said. However, Alistair's eyes immediately widened by the comment that Urien had made about swooping. It was a term that he had used amongst his friends and…travel companions. Alistair knew that this was too much of a coincidence for it to not be true.

Urien could tell by the look in the king's eyes that he had him. The young man approached the two men, but kept his eyes locked particularly on the king. "Do the Grey Wardens make a habit of putting new recruits in positions of authority?" said Urien. "Are you not the senior Warden, Alistair?"

"I'm not good with leadership positions," Alistair said as he spoke from memory.

"So you're a follower?" said Urien. "Then that begs the question, do the Grey Wardens always bring incompetent men amongst their ranks?"

By that point, everyone was deathly silent. Carver, Pyra, and Kadan had a terrible feeling that Urien had just sealed their death sentence for insulting the King of Ferelden. Even Fergus was at a loss of why the young man was speaking so boldly to the king, even as he had a sinking feeling in his heart that he knew who this young man was now. However, it was Alistair who would see through the youth as he knew only one person bold enough in all of Thedas to insult him like that.

That bloody woman always did make his life a living Hell when they were travelling around Ferelden during the Blight. He had a bad feeling that he'd come face to face with her offspring, but he just had no idea of when to expect it.

"You're Morrigan's son," said Alistair. "You're the child that she conceived with Aedan."

"Aedan!" said Fergus as he had his suspicions confirmed. He turned towards Urien, seeing it clearly now as he saw the familiar expressions between father and son. Fergus saw the mischievous twinkle in Urien's eyes, which was the same look that Aedan gave him when the younger Cousland was right about something. "But…you're a Mage! There is no magic in our family."

"There is in my mother's family," said Urien. "Now, hello, Uncle Fergus. Are you going to give your nephew a hug?"

Fergus couldn't believe it. He wasn't even aware that his brother had a child. The king and the rest of his companions had kept that a secret from everyone. Even Aedan hadn't told his own, older brother that he had a son. Part of the reason why Aedan had kept it a secret was because Fergus had lost his family during Howe's attack. Fergus's wife and son were brutally killed by the Arl's soldiers.

Aedan didn't want his brother to feel like he was rubbing it against his face. This was especially true considering that Fergus never re-married or had another child.

Urien wasn't as kind. Well, he wasn't as sensitive to these things as his father would be. He had too much of his mother's blunt nature to be kind enough to spare Fergus's feelings.

"I suppose you're here to cause trouble for us then," said Alistair as he approached the son of his friend. "What is it that you have planned, young Cousland? Do you plan on swooping in and burning down all of our crops while dancing naked under the moonlight?"

Urien suddenly understood everything that his mother told him about his father's friend. He always imagined King Alistair to be a little more noble then this, but he really was exactly how his mother described him to be. "Wow, mother was right about you," said Urien. "You are a fool."

"There's no denying that you're Morrigan's son," said Alistair, while shaking his head. "You do know that I'm a king, right?"

"The boy's a glutton for pain," Kadan said, interfering before Urien could spit out another insult.

Fergus started to chuckle by that comment as he finally approached his nephew. He reached out, returning his mother's ring to his nephew. "Now that sounds like my brother," said Fergus. "Aedan was always a troublemaker growing up. Now, nephew, will you please answer the king's question and tell us why you're here?"

Nodding his head, Urien mentioned that he was looking for his mother. He explained how she had returned to Thedas a few years ago, and that his father had sent him to look for her now that their child was of age. Alistair knew what that really meant, but he kept the part about Urien being the reincarnation of an Old God to himself as he wasn't sure that Fergus could handle learning about that.

"It is dangerous to be wandering around Thedas, even with your curious company," said Fergus as he looked at the former Templar, Kossith, and Elf-Blooded Mage. "The Inquisition has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Monsters roam the lands, Qunari are invading, the Mages and Templars are in a brutal war, the Chantry is on the verge of collapsing, and civil war has stricken many countries to the point where a war between nations is bound to occur."

"The situation is that bad?" said Carver. "I mean, I knew things were bad, but how could things get so out of hand?"

"Not even I can answer that," said Alistair. "but these are dangerous times as Fergus said. I don't think it would be wise for the Son of the Hero of Ferelden to be wandering around Thedas in the open. Why are you going through such great lengths to find your mother, anyways?"

"I am only doing as my father asked," Urien said, bluntly.

Fergus saw another resemblance between the boy and his father. The raw determination was something that Aedan was known for as well. Whenever their father asked of something from them, Aedan was always the one who went above and beyond to prove himself. It probably had to deal with the fact that Aedan knew that he was the spare son that was needed just in case Fergus ever died without an heir.

Painful thoughts were locked back away in Fergus's mind as he extended a hand out to his nephew. "Please, stay here for the night, until you can figure out where to go next," said Fergus. "I don't want you to wander off out in Thedas without a clear destination in mind."

Urien thanked his uncle for the generous offer when coughing caught their attention.

Everyone looked back to see Pyra standing over the unconscious guard. The Mage pointed down to the guard that was twitching a bit. "Family reunions are wonderful in all," said Pyra, "but what about this poor lad? I think Urien went a little too far with the mind control spell. I'm having a bit of trouble repairing his mind from the mental lock."

"Oops," said Urien as he waved his hand forward. "I tend to do that."

In seconds, the guard awakened and was back up on his feet. He was completely confused as to what had happened to him, along with pretty much everyone else in the room. Urien was the only one who knew what was going on, but the Teyrn and King were at a loss, while Kadan, Carver, and Pyra were still trying to figure out things for themselves.

They were all hoping that now that Urien had assumed his noble birthright that they'd finally gain some direction on this journey of theirs.

* * *

Outside of the estate, a figure watched the touching reunion from a patrol tower. It was the perfect spot to watch the estate from a distance and luckily, there were currently no guards patrolling this area yet. The young man arose to his feet, putting his pocket-scope away as he slid jumped from the twenty-foot high tower.

Draco landed perfectly on his feet without even the slightest bit of pain from the landing. He fixed his coat as he began to make his way toward the open road, dressed in clothes befitting a nobleman. In his mind, he could already see that Urien was getting filled in on the current status of Thedas, which was rather depressing if one thought about it.

At least things would get better soon enough so long as Draco had his way.

Slipping through the guards at the estate, Draco made his way inside that evening just in time for the banquet that was hosted in honor of the king. Urien and his friends weren't going to be present for the meal as nobody wanted to raise any alarm that the Hero of Ferelden had a legitimate son. It would've created too much madness and potentially put the lad in unnecessary danger.

Draco took a glass of wine that was offered to him by a server as he looked at the King and Teyrn. They both looked so jolly despite the discovery that had been made just a few hours ago. Nobody could deny that the two weren't good performers. Draco was amazed to see how good of a job that they did at covering up Urien.

It worked out better this way for Draco too. The longer that Urien was kept a secret, the easier it would be for Draco to position the young man into exactly where he needed him to be.

* * *

In the afternoon, Fergus stood by the window in his office as he looked out to the courtyard. He watched as Urien held his practice sword forward, taking "arms" against the Highever Knights. The young man urged the knights to come after him as he charged towards them, proving how skilled of a warrior he was.

The knights came after Urien, swinging their practice clubs at him. Urien was far more skilled though as he was trained like a noble warrior, but also had the creativity of a Mage and a rogue. Twisting his body around to avoid all of their hits, Urien easily avoided every hit as he struck their weak points. It was easy enough for him take them down to their knees as he clubbed them down without so much as breaking a sweat.

Watching this, Fergus couldn't help but to see Aedan in the boy. Aedan was also a skilled fighter, finding it easy enough to make a mockery of the knights that served under their father. If the boy really was his brother's son then that meant Fergus was going to see a lot more of Aedan in that boy.

"Why did you keep him a secret from me?" asked Fergus as he turned back around to King Alistair.

The ex-Warden was leaning against the brick wall with a glass of brandy in his hand. He moved away from the cold brick as he went over to the Teyrn. "Because Aedan asked me not to," said Alistair. "It's like I told you yesterday, Fergus, your brother knew how much it killed you when you found out about Oren. Aedan didn't want to hurt you by telling you about his son."

"Still," said Fergus, "he's the only family I have left with Aedan missing. Even if he carries the soul of an Archdemon inside of his body, I don't want to see the boy getting hurt."

"Which is why we must keep his identity a secret," said Alistair. "The only ones who are even aware of Urien's existence are the surviving members of our party. That means Leliana, Orghen, Shale, Sten, and the Wardens that fought with Aedan at Vigil's Keep know of him."

Fergus nodded his head as he knew saw that his nephew's identity would be kept hidden except by those who would actually be able to help him. It helped to make him feel a little more confident about this foolish quest that Urien was after. He knew that there was something far greater at stake, something that none of them knew was at works.

The Teyrn told Alistair of some of the fears that he felt in this changing world. And in his heart, Fergus felt that Urien's existence was tangled up with this affair.

Alistair couldn't help but to feel the same. He suggested that they keep Urien in Highever for as long as possible until they knew more about the current situation. They needed to know what Urien was really up to, if he was really innocently searching for his mother on his father's behalf as he said he was. Or if the boy was up to something far worse.

Considering the fact that he was the reincarnation of an Old God, they knew that they would have to expect the worst from Urien.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Not much to say other then this is where the plot thickens! I hope you enjoy the chapter! Read and review!**

**Chapter Four: **

Hanging off the edge of the Highever Estate, Urien sat alone as he stared out into the land that belonged to the Cousland Family. Urien never imagined that he'd get the opportunity to see the land of his father, much less sleep under the same roof that he had grown up in. Just being here and being around his uncle gave Urien a greater impression of what it was like for his father.

The sun was set as he looked at the ring on his finger, the ring that belonged to his grandmother. It was a nice reminder of his connection to his mortal family as he needed to remember his godly connection to the Old Gods. After all, he was the reincarnation of a Dragon God and an Archdemon.

Urien got away from the ledge as he knew he was tempting fate too much by hanging off there. A smirk grew on his face when he looked back to see the ever faithful Kadan waiting for him. It always amused the young man to see how loyal the Kossith had become to him in such a short period of time. It made Urien wonder if Kadan was only as loyal as he was because he had saved his life or because he truly did care.

"What are you up to now, Kadan?" asked Urien. "Did you follow me all the way out to the roof just to admire how pretty I am?"

Rolling his eyes, Kadan had yet to appreciate Urien's sense of humor. The youth skipped towards the Kossith, grinning like a fool as he hooked arms with the giant. "I am here to inform you that your uncle wishes to speak with you. There seems to be matters he needs to discuss with you," said Kadan. "There is danger out in Thedas that seems reason enough to warrant alarm."

There was always danger out there in a world where strife roamed the land.

Urien understood how doomed people were without a firm hand to maintain order. But when kings and leaders bickered, their people emulated that behavior which leads to the birth to a chaos that'll ravage the lands.

"We mustn't keep Uncle Fergus waiting then," said Urien as he led his companion back into the estate.

* * *

Inside the main hall of the estate, there was a gathering of the local nobles.

It seemed that Urien and his party came just in time to Highever in order to witness something far greater than they could've anticipated. Urien found it incredible that his Uncle Fergus would allow him at this meeting since he was well aware of his uncle's feelings about revealing his nephew to the world.

There was a level of hostility in the room that showed that tensions were high. The nobles were frightened by something, which meant that things really had to be bad.

Carver and Pyra were amongst the crowd of nobles, while they stayed as neutral to things as possible. Caver hadn't seen so many nobles cramped into one place since the time that he joined his brother in Orlais on his quest with the Qunari Assassin, Tallis. The young Mage in particular had to hide himself since nobles weren't great around Elves, even when they were just half-breeds like him.

Approaching his uncle, Urien placed his hands on the finery that had been tailored to fit his lean form. "You called for me, uncle?" Urien said, relatively softly. "What is going on here? Is there a particular reason why every noble in Ferelden seems to be in Castle Highever?"

A certain level of anxiety appeared on Fergus's face as he paid attention to his nephew. He pulled the young man aside, pointing for the boy's party to follow him as well. "Trouble is brewing," said Fergus. "There is another Dragon Cult active in Ferelden, but that's not even the worst of it."

"Really?" said Carver. "The last Dragon Cult that appeared in Ferelden worshipped a High Dragon that they believed was the Maker's Bride, Andraste. How could it be much worse than that?"

"This cult has been spotted in other countries," said Fergus. "There have been sightings of them in Nevarra and Orlais, which is why everyone is on nervous right now. This cult is far larger and more organized than any other cult we've seen before."

"And do we know anything about the particular dragon that they worship?" asked Pyra.

Fergus shook his head as they had no idea. There wasn't much detail on the Dragon Cult, but the Teyrn mentioned that King Alistair was calling for a summit in Denerim where nobles from Nevarra and Orlais were to arrive. This came as a particular surprise for everyone as it was no mystery that Ferelden and Orlais were always on the verge of war as Fereldens never trusted the country that occupied them only forty years ago, while Orlais made it clear that they didn't mind reclaiming their lost territory.

To think that King Alistair was willing to bring these people to Castle Denerim was a shock. But Fergus assured them that this was for the best as he made it clear that he wanted them to join him on the trip to Denerim.

Urien agreed without even the slightest bit of hesitation. He was so anxious to get out of the castle after being cooped up in here for the past week that he didn't care about the potential risk with crazy nobles. Honestly, the nobles would provide him with a mild form of entertainment that would be reasonable enough to restore him of some of his sanity.

As much as they felt that this could end badly, the others agreed to this as well. Carver, Pyra, and Kadan followed Urien out of the main hall as they prepared for their journey to Denerim.

* * *

The road to Denerim wasn't as eventful as the trip from Ostagar. The party made it through without that much trouble as they entered the royal city of Ferelden with Teyrn Fergus Cousland's Knights leading the pack. They made it to the city within two days where there was already a loud commotion brewing from the city.

A guard from the city had reached out to the party, informing them of the arrival of the nobles from Nevarra and Orlais.

Fergus knew that only trouble would brew if they followed that path. He ordered the guard to escort them towards the palace's back entrance to avoid any trouble.

Urien wasn't one who liked to hide, but he figured that he might as well listen to his uncle's warning. He knew that Orlesians in particular were not popular in Ferelden and he didn't feel like getting stabbed because of some stupid noble with a weird hat. Of course, Urien had to say that out loud which got a chuckle out of every native Ferelden in their group.

Sneaking through Fort Drakon, the party made it to Castle Denerim where King Alistair and the rest of the nobles waited for them. As they passed the colossal fort and its tower, Urien felt a chill run down his spine. He looked out to the tower to see the place where his father had killed his previous body.

The final battle of Denerim had taken place at Fort Drakon. It is there that Aedan Cousland led his party against the Archdemon, Urthemiel. It was on that tower that Aedan had struck the fatal blow against the Archdemon, which resulted in Urien's soul finding its way to the child that had just been conceived inside of Morrigan's womb to purify his soul of the Darkspawn Taint.

Trying hard not to think about it because it just made him feel so cold, Urien turned his head back to the castle to maintain his calm.

Kadan had waited back since Urien had fallen so far behind. The Kossith stayed behind as he looked to see the fear that the boy tried to hide behind a false smile. He extended his grey hand out to Urien, knowing damn well that the boy wouldn't take it. The former Archdemon was too stubborn to accept Kadan's help as he walked passed the Kossith, keeping his head held up as he entered the palace.

Nobles were the worst people in all of Thedas. They were so obsessively needy and wouldn't stop until they had things their way, which was ridiculous.

Carver couldn't believe he was getting dragged into this mess again. He thought that after leaving Kirkwall, he'd be freed from all this noble drama, but it seemed like it was only bound to get worst now that he was hanging out with the Hero of Ferelden's son.

The Orlesians were the worst out of all of them, thought Carver.

All of the nobles were bickering about the most insignificant things. Where they should be concern about this Dragon Cult that has suddenly appeared; the nobles ended up arguing about territorial lines. The pure selfishness in their words was downright frustrating to party as well as the rest of the Ferelden nobility.

King Alistair, in particular, appeared to be drained by all of this nonsense, which made him wish that he hadn't sent his wife, Anora, to Amaranthine to deal with noble drama there since she had far more grace in these situations then he did. He gave out a deep groan as he got up from his chair and thrusted himself between a pair of nobles. "Enough of this!" shouted Alistair. "We have bigger concerns. We will deal with these disputes on another day like when there isn't the threat of a Dragon Cult over our heads because where there's a Dragon Cult, there's a High Dragon waiting in the background."

"You can't be serious," spat an Orlesians noble.

"The Ferelden is," said a Nevarran noble. "While maybe not a High Dragon, there will be a Dragon present."

Nodding his head as there was finally someone listening; Alistair gathered all of the nobles closer to him. He brought them to a large table where a map of Thedas could be found with red marks on different countries. "The cultists have appeared already in Orlais, Nevarra, the Free Marches, and even the Tevinter Imperium," said Alistair. "The cultists are showing signs of expanding to the south with Ferelden being their next destination."

"Which means what, my king?" asked Fergus.

"Trouble, of course," said King Alistair. "I have a bad feeling that a Dragon will swoop down on us at any moment. Call it paranoia or residual feelings from my day as a Warden, but there is trouble brewing for us."

There was no doubt about that. Urien could already feel the trouble brewing as he took hold of the handle to the sword strapped to his waist. He felt anxious about being up in the castle as he looked back out to the fort in the distance, feeling such a terrible feeling coming forth from the bottom of his soul.

Something wasn't right here. Urien's grip on his sword tightened as he looked back towards his party only to find Pyra looking back at him. The Elf-Blooded Mage seemed to share similar sentiments as he did. Pyra was looking towards the window with him showing signs of a chill as he stared out the window, trying to figure out what these feelings were.

"What is the plan then, Alistair?" said a Nevarran noble.

"The only thing we can do is wait until the cultists make their move," said Alistair. "Then when they strike, we exterminate them before they could create anymore havoc."

In saying that, Alistair would soon find his wish coming true. There was a rumble from the ground with the sound of an explosion going off in the distance with an echo spreading throughout the city.

Not long after the explosion came, distant screams could be heard with the nobles inside the castle beginning to panic. Urien went towards the window where he could see fire and a cloud of smoke rising from the central quarter of the city. He didn't wait for anyone to give him orders as he immediately made his way towards the door to get out to the city with the rest of his party and various knights following suit.

* * *

The streets of Denerim were burning once more.

Although, this attack was nowhere near as the attack that Denerim suffered from the Darkspawn horde, this attack wasn't anything to laugh at. Figures dressed in leathers with their faces covered in cloth began to storm the streets as they were armed with swords, daggers, and other weapons. Archers were also amongst the group as they shot their fiery arrows out into the city, using them to kill citizens and burn the thatch roofs of buildings.

Knights and guards rushed out from their various posts to intercept the coming invaders. The Dragon Cultists were nothing to shake a stick at. The cultists were skilled warriors, more so then even the best that Ferelden had to offer as the cultists easily began to dispatch the warriors.

A dagger was swung forward, used to slit the throat of a guardsman, while another cultist plunged his sword through the exposed thigh of a knight when another cultist used an axe to decapitate the knight. These were only a few of the brutal attacks that would brew as the cultists had made their grand arrival to Ferelden, slaughtering everything that was in their path.

Emerging from the palace gates, Urien was the first to come flying out as he drew his longsword out for combat. He spun his magic to cover his blade with an elemental current of fire, ice, earth, and wind as he took charge against the cultists. Kadan, Carver, and Pyra were next to come out from the palace as they saw that disaster that rapidly befell the royal city.

While Denerim wasn't the most advanced of cities in Thedas, the quiet city was something that the Fereldens were proud of. It stood before the Darkspawn so they felt that it could stand against anything.

Carver didn't enjoy seeing the damage that was being done as he held up his Greatsword for battle. His Templar and soldier training began to kick in as he knew that Urien was long gone so he set his sights onto Kadan and Pyra. He sent out orders to Kadan to work on dispatching any cultists from a distance, while he worked with Pyra in making a path for people to escape from these invaders.

The party began to spread out, doing as what expected of them.

Kadan climbed to the top of the tower with a grace that was so fluid for a man of his size. Once he was at the top, he pulled his bow from his shoulder as he took out the first arrow from his quiver. With an enchanted arrow, the Kossith prepared to make his shot count as he took aim at a rooftop that was filled with cultist archers.

The arrow was released with it sailing across miles to hit its mark. The cultist archers were completely unaware of the arrow that struck part of the roof that they stood on. While it appeared that the arrow was going to do nothing, in seconds, an explosion was ignited on the roof that the cultists stood on. The explosion kicked them all of from the roof where they fell six stories, plunging to their deaths from the explosion.

Seeing that a handful of archers were dead now, Kadan took out another arrow as he got to work on doing more damage to the cultist archers.

With enemy archers dying, it made cleaning up the streets a lot easier for them.

Urien kicked a cultist rogue in the face as the fool had ascended up a hill to take on the young man. The boot to the face reminded the rogue of his place as the youth sent down a ball of fire out to consume his body. The cultist burned to death, while a group of cultist warriors began to show up from another of the city's roads.

One of the cultists had the head of some poor man in his possession. Urien groaned about how disgusting that was as he charged towards the cultists, gripping his sword tightly.

The magically, enhanced sword helped Urien in disposing of his foes. He swung the blade forward to rip through their armor, which was even easier because of the spell. Bolts of magic would flutter out to shatter any defenses that the cultists had developed to protect themselves from enemy magic.

Urien's magic was beyond them though. Twisting his sword around, Urien brought his weapon up to guard himself from two incoming swords. He blocked the attacks of cultists warriors as he extended his hand forward to unleash a burst of icy magic to push them back away from there. Now, Urien slammed his sword to the ground to unleash a flash of magic that petrified all of the cultists, trapping them into a stone state before they all shattered to pieces.

With that done, Urien swung his sword back as he looked up to the sky, sensing that there was something else to be concerned about.

* * *

Trouble always found a way to follow him, no matter what.

Cultist warriors were rushing towards them, but Carver made quick work of them. He lunged at them and swung his massive sword at them to kill most of them with a single swing. Those that survived earned a more direct assault from Carver as he struck them with the greatest of ease. Carver hacked through their leather armor, ripping out organs from their chests and spilling their blood without so much as batting an eyelash.

As they died before him, Carver felt no remorse at all for killing these heretics. He tightened his hold on his sword as he hurled yelling behind him, which immediately brought out his concerned side as he recognized the voice that belonged to Pyra.

The concern was unwarranted though.

Pyra was surrounded by cultists, but there was nothing for the young Mage to be afraid of. A single cultist sprang towards him. Twisting his staff slightly to the left, Pyra brought forth a pillar of earth from the ground that struck the chin of the cultist to snap its neck. The other cultists would try something, but they would fail miserably as Pyra drew a magical circle around himself to create a rushing wave of magic that struck them hard, shattering every bone in their body in an instant.

The spell was particularly nerve wrecking for Pyra as he avoided using such lethal magic. He hated letting out this side of himself, but he understood that the cultists were truly monsters as they showed no guilt for the innocents that they attacked. Pyra would show no sympathy towards the cultists in response to this as he stepped over their corpses to reunite himself with Carver.

Pyra stopped a few steps away from his lover, looking around for any signs of more trouble. "Do you think we got them all?" asked Pyra. "I don't see anybody else out there. Not even a stray dog."

"We still need to keep our guard up," said Carver as he kept up his grip on his sword. "These cultists could be hiding. They might be up to something big."

Not one to argue about that, Pyra nodded his head. He got closer towards Carver as he kept his mind open to anything when he felt a sharp pressure against his mind. All of the walls that he constructed to mentally defend himself crumbled as he dropped to his knees.

Carver reached out to Pyra but found that the youth was unconscious by some unknown power. This terrified and enraged Carver all at the same time as he turned back around to see any signs of the would be attacker.

"Show yourself!" shouted Carver. "Show yourself, miserable bastard!"

There was humming in the air as Carver felt a surge of power around him. This block was nowhere near being safe with something evil brewing around him. The smell of blood was sharpening, causing Carver to rely on the Templar abilities that he had learned from his days in the Order.

Blood Magic was at work here, which meant that his Templar artes might be the key to saving his life. Carver tried to find the Blood Mage, but found that there was nothing he could do when he finally saw a man step out from the shadows.

A man, easily into his fifties, with a ragged cloak had the body of a dead child in his hands. He spoke words over the corpse to pull all of the blood out of it faster than Carver could use his Templar abilities to silence the Blood Mage. Staring at the warrior, the Blood Mage spat out at the warrior to unleash his spell to shatter Carver's mind, sending him into the realm that was covered by the Veil.

The Blood Mage, a High Priest amongst the Cultists, sent Carver into the Fade, smiling as he followed the will of the Dragon as he was instructed to.

* * *

_Trapped. _

_Trapped in the Fade was a miserable fleeing to have. _

_Carver opened his eyes to find himself in the same clothes that he had worn when he was escaping from Lothering. The sleeveless fitted his large torso well while his slacks hung a little loose. Soon enough, he found out that he was weaponless, which was natural in the Fade. This was a realm where physical materials didn't exactly transfer well._

"_Maker's Breath," said Carver as he looked around at his ghastly surroundings. "Look what I've gotten myself into._

_The Fade was a realm of Spirits and Demons. The world could be shaped in any way that was desired, mostly by Mages since they were the only ones who were able to see themselves in the Fade. For normal humans and elves, the Fade was simply a place of dreams. For Mages, they could shape those dreams in a more elaborate way._

_Carver found himself standing in what looked like a replica of the Gallows back in Kirkwall. The brick fortress was where slaves were taken to back in the days of the Tevinter Imperium, but they had since been converted into the Circle Tower where Mages were housed. At least, that was the purpose of the Gallows until Knight-Commander Meredith had gone insane from Red Lyrium and had to be killed by the Champion and all of his companions. _

_Now, here he was back in the place where he had made a name for himself back in his days as a Templar. _

_Afraid by what nightmares might come forth, Carver began to call out for Pyra. He knew that his lover had to be around here somewhere, but there was nothing but an echo for him. The panic grew for Carver as he ran throughout the Gallows, ignoring all of the eerie emptiness as he tried to find where Pyra was._

_What felt like ages had passed in the Fade when Carver finally found his way to main studies for the Mages. Carver opened the door to find the ghostly images of Templars surrounding a small boy that was crying on the ground. The boy was clearly terrified and the Templars were obviously up to no good._

_Carver was familiar with Templars that abused Mages. The abuse took various forms and no gender or race was safe. All Mages were open to physical, verbal, or sexual abuse from the corrupt Templars. Several times, Carver had stopped a Templar from beating a Mage and he had even witnessed a young Mage boy being raped by a Templar. While the Templar had been expelled from the Order, the boy was so severally traumatized by the event that Knight-Commander Meredith had ordered him to be made Tranquil, severing his connection to the Fade and effectively turning him into a mindless shell._

_The boy deserved far better than he received from the Order. _

_Regardless, even if this was only a nightmare, Carver wasn't about to allow that to happen again. He rushed towards the Templars to pull them away from the boy when they all suddenly vanished along with the boy. Instead, dark spirits began to arise from the ground in hooded forms which Carver instantly recognized as Demons._

_The Demons swarmed around Carver, attempting to latch onto him with their ethereal limbs. Carver fought back though as he used every mental defense that he had to resist any tempting over that they tried to offer him._

"_Away from me, Demons!" shouted Carver. "Begone!" _

"_Submit!" howled a Demon._

_"Embrace the Chaos," said another Demon. _

"_Embrace freedom," said a Demon as it grabbed onto Carver's arm._

_Other Demons began to take hold of Carver, violating his mind by their corruption. Their dark touch sent chills down Carver's imaginary spine as he finally had enough of them. He wanted these Demons gone, which is exactly what happened._

_A burst of white light escaped from his body in a cooling rush of power. The Demons were blown away from him where they faded away into the depths of the Fade, leaving him be. This was only a brief respite for Carver as he could still feel the cold hands of the Demons all over his flesh._

_While Carver tried to process what just happened all of his thoughts were interrupted when he heard screaming from behind him._

_Pyra was there, but he wasn't alone. His neck was being grabbed by another man that Carver had never seen before. _

_The stranger kept a firm grip onto Pyra as he smiled at Carver. While neither Carver or Pyra knew who he was, but Urien did as this was Draco. "So happy that you could join us, Templar Carver," said Draco. "How noble of you to rush off to that poor boy's defense, even if it was just a dream. And might I say, what a stunning display of your Templar powers! You still have the will to resist Demons."_

"_Release, Pyra at once!" shouted Carver as he glared at Draco. _

"_Carver!" cried Pyra as he struggled against Draco's grip._

_Shaking his head at them, Draco refused to comply with Carver's request. He pulled Pyra closer towards him. "I wonder if Pyra would still like you if he knew the awful truth about you, Carver," said Draco. "You pride yourself in being a noble swordsman who will protect those who can protect themselves, but you're no better than the other Templars. You are a corrupt addict that did so many unspeakable things."_

"_LIAR!" howled Carver._

"_Oh how we've forgotten the days of the Inquisition," laughed Draco. "No matter. Pyra will soon learn of your sins as the Dragon burns Denerim to the ground." Feeling proud of himself, Draco released Pyra from his grip. He kicked the Elf-Blooded Mage towards Carver who barely managed to catch him before he fell in the Fade. "It is time to uncage the beast after all, he is a hungry one. Take care, boys."_

_Vanishing deeper in the Fade, the silhouette of a dragon surrounded him as he was gone from sight now. And with Draco gone, the spell that kept Carver and Pyra prisoner in the Fade was also immediately lifted. _

Awakening from the nightmare that they were pulled into, Carver and Pyra regained consciousness just in time. They could hear the sound of powerful wings flapping in the air mixed with a sulfur-like smell that could only mean one thing.

The Dragon was coming.

* * *

Back in the center of the city, Urien worked on dispatching more cultists with Kadan providing necessary backup. More knights and guardsmen flowed into the city square, now better able to fend off the attacks of the cultists since they were aware of their strengths. The various forces collided, filling the streets with the blood of men as this battle lasted for what felt like the entire day.

Urien bashed a cultist's face in before hurling a magic boulder at another to shatter the cultists' rib cage. He killed other cultist's that were foolish enough to get near him when he felt something was off. Spinning around quickly, he raised his sword up to block an incoming arrow but found that wasn't the part that was bothering him.

Cultists were fleeing form another corridor of the royal city. This didn't appear right at all, but soon enough, it would all become clear to him.

Mana hovered in the air as yelling could also be heard by the reincarnated Old God.

In seconds, two figures emerged from the corridor as well with weapons in their hands. Their images cleared up so that Urien could see that they were men, but most importantly, he could sense Mana flowing through their veins.

The first of the two appeared to be a typical, human male, except he was more finally dressed. He looked like a noble as his brown hair was neatly cut, the tunic and slacks he wore were made of a fine material, and even the staff that he carried in his hand was intricately crafted by a professional. The young man, in his mid-twenties, was also handsome, but there was power behind his blue eyes, which Urien could easily sense and would soon see.

Waving his hand forward, flames arose from the ground to burn several of the cultists to death before the newcomers. The screams of these men were horrifying as they turned to ash as the flames ended their miserable existence.

The other man, while not dressed as finely, had an air around him that showed confidence and strength. Urien could tell that this man, also in his mid-twenties, was Elf-Blooded like Pyra was. The young man was dressed in light leather armor that was professionally crafted, but nowhere near as much attention to detail was given to what he wore like it was for the other man.

The young man carried a curved blade in his hand, which he used as a magical aura consumed the weapon. He threw himself forward, using the enchanted blade to cut the fleeing cultists apart as with sparks of magic sailing from their bodies from his brutal treatment.

With more blood spilt, these newcomers were a breath of fresh air in a terrible situation. It was a welcome sight to see two more competent fighters present for such an attack. The two men ran towards the rest of the group just as King Alistair arrived to city square, recognizing one of the young men almost instantly.

"Connor!" said Alistair. "What are you doing here?"

Connor Guerrin stopped running in his tracks as he turned towards the King of Ferelden. Manners instilled to him from being the son of Arl Eamon of Redcliffe forced him to bow before someone of higher station then him. However, that was where the formality ended as he approached his almost "adopted" brother. "I'm protecting my homeland," said the young Mage. "Why else would I be here, Alistair?"

The king would've said something smart, but the words escaped him. He was surprised by how powerful Connor's magic had become after what happened during the Blight. When the Darkspawn roamed Ferelden, Connor's father had been poisoned and in an effort to save his father, Connor turned to a Desire Demon for aid. In that process, Connor's blossoming magics led to him being possessed by the Desire Demon who laid ruin upon the town of Redcliffe.

The boy would've faced certain death had the Hero of Ferelden and his party not saved him. They were able to destroy the Desire Demon, freeing Connor from possession. The process would leave Connor without memory of what happened to him, and he would be sent to the Ferelden Circle for training after his father was saved by the Ashes of Andraste.

As cultists felt, the air was thick with the smell of sulfur. Kadan was the first to notice this as he jumped from the roof he was on top of as he reunited with Urien and the other men assembled around them. "Something is coming," said Kadan. "It…it makes my bones feel heavy."

"I can feel it too," said the young man that accompanied Connor. "What could it be though?"

"It's powerful," said Urien, "that much is certain."

"Dragon! It's a Dragon!"

Turning back, everyone saw Carver and Pyra running from another end of the city. The two looked exhausted and terrified as Pyra continued to shout about a Dragon.

The cultists appeared overjoyed by this as they retreated from Denerim. Many of the cultists would be killed trying to flee, but a vast majority would escape just as Carver and Pyra arrive to the others.

Carver was gasping for air when he looked up, immediately recognizing the man that was with Connor. "Feynriel!" shouted Carver. "That can't be you! I thought you were in Tevinter still?"

Shaking his head, the Elf-Blooded man, Feynriel, helped Carver to stand up straight. "I left only recently," said Feynriel. The light haired youth hardly changed since Kirkwall. Carver could still see the boy that was so terrified of the Circle that he nearly ended up a slave if his brother hadn't saved him and allowed him to escape to live amongst the Dalish. "I am a master of my Dreamer powers now so I have nothing to fear."

After his powers grew out of his control, Feynriel had slipped into a coma where Demons taunted him in the Fade. Once more, Garrett Hawke saved the young man and allowed him to escape to Tevinter where he could learn to control his powers. As a Dreamer, Feynriel had access to a rare form of magic that allowed him to reshape the Fade with ease. Now that he was in control of that power, it made Feynriel all the more confident in himself.

"What about a dragon?" Urien said, snapping back into reality as he turned to Pyra.

"The Dragon that the cultist's worship is here at Denerim!" said Pyra.

"Impossible!" said Alistair before he was suddenly cut off.

The vicious howl of a dragon could be heard overhead. Everyone looked up to see a Dragon larger than any High Dragon descending from the sky. The Dragon was colossal as his red scales glistened against the sunlight as his sights were set on the city.

Fire spewed from the Dragon's mouth to burn down dozens of buildings in an instant. Mass panic ensued in Denerim as everyone attempted to flee the path of the Dragon as he finally landed on the ground.

The Dragon easily took up the majority of the city square. The long neck of the Dragon began to glow as more fire was building up within his body. The Dragon belched out a jet of fire that flew towards the Denerim Palace to burn a wing of the palace down.

Alistair called for his warriors to attack, but everyone had retreated by then. The Dragon was absolutely terrifying as it crippled all mental defenses that everyone had built up.

The Dragon gave out one last roar before he started to flap his massive wings once more to take flight. The Dragon shot fire into the sky where nothing was in danger of burning before he started to fly towards the sun in the direction where his followers had fled towards, leaving behind a lasting impression.

* * *

The debut appearance of the Dragon left terror in his wake.

A quarter of Denerim was lost from the Dragon's fire. It took the entire day for the flames to be put out before anyone could even begin to count the bodies of the lives of the Fereldens that had been killed by the cultists. Over a hundred people had been so brutally slaughtered, while only three dozen cultists were found dead.

Unfortunately, there were no survivors amongst the cultists left in Denerim. There was no chance at getting any answers behind these vicious attacks, which left a sour impression for everyone.

King Alistair in particular was bothered by this as his home had been so brutally attack. Denerim hadn't seen an assault this severe since the Blight, which struck a nerve in his pride. He knew damn well now that these cultists needed to be swiftly dealt with.

Even the foreign nobles were in agreement with that. However, that was where their unity ended as the nobles were too terrified to do much else. Even the Nevarran ambassador, the country where Dragon Hunters were famous, was terrified by the Dragon that the cultists worshipped.

As the foreign and neighboring nobles disappeared from the grand hall, Urien was left with a pitiful impression of nobles. They were so pathetic and unwilling to get their hands even the slightest bit dirty that Urien realized that his quest for his mother would have to be put on hold. The Dragon was a far greater concern as he needed to be dealt with before he or his followers could do any more damage to Thedas.

Alistair and Fergus were the only nobles left in the room. Urien was alone with his party as his uncle and the king joined them along with Connor and Feynriel staying as well.

Fixing the sword strapped to his hip, Urien felt a little fidgety. He wanted to figure out more about the Dragon so he knew the only ones who could help right now were Carver and Pyra since they seemed to know more than they were letting on. "Is there anything else you can tell us about the Dragon?" Urien asked Carver.

"Not much," said Carver. "Pyra and I were killing cultist when a Cultist Mage sent us into the Fade where we met the Mage or Demon controlling the Dragon."

"Whoever this Dragon Master is," said Pyra, "he's incredibly power. I never sensed such magics before in my life. It terrifies me."

"Then we cannot afford to be reckless," said Kadan. "If we are to slay the Dragon then we will need help."

"I'm interested," said Connor as he stepped forward with Feynriel beside him. He shrugged his shoulders as he gestured that Feynriel was willing to participate in this hunt as well. "My magic is strong enough for me to hold my own."

"So is mine," added Feynriel, "not to mention, I'm handy with a longsword."

Urien rolled his eyes at the Elf-Blooded man started the obvious. He saw how well Connor and Feynriel performed during the attack on Denerim, which made accepting their offers easier. Two more Mages could come in handy considering that they were up against a behemoth of Dragons.

As much as Alistair or Fergus would like to debate, they knew that there was no point. The Dragon was far too dangerous of a threat to underestimate so numbers would be needed. In an effort to lighten their loads, Alistair informed them that he'd make arrangements for them to gain access to a ship to help them go after the cultists since Antiva or Rivain would likely be the next targets for the Dragon Cult.

With a king's blessing, Urien gathered his party as it was time to search for a means to eliminate the Dragon Cult and their Dragon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hello pretty people! So Here is another fun-filled chapter! I do have a surprise for you tonight too. What might that be? Another update! Yes, good people, I will also be posting chapter 6 later tonight. I just need to edit it then we'll be good to go! Now, read and review!**

**Chapter 5:**

After the attack on Denerim, Urien's party decided to set their course for Amaranthine. Their goal was to reach Vigil's Keep to find aid from the Grey Wardens that were stationed there as the need for help was great. It was the plan to receive some sort of aid form the Wardens, but at the very least, the party would have an easy route to their next destination which they were debating was either Antiva or Rivain.

The two countries were bound to be attacked by the Dragon Cult in the near future. At the very least, Antiva was the closest city on the map, which made it their most likely destination.

However, their travel plans were delayed as they waited for King Alistair to allow them to leave the city. Repairs were already underway for Denerim so it wasn't like that was their main concern. The king had delayed their trip because he was gathering resources that they could take with him, including a way to safely pass to the Vigil's Keep since that was where Urien's father had been made Warden Commander following the defeat of the Archdemon.

Impatience rose as it took another two days before they were ready to finally resume their journey. Connor and Feynriel were accompanying the party now, which meant more mouths to feed but it also assured that their group was large enough to fend of larger attacks.

The added party members came in handy. On route to Amaranthine, the party had been ambushed by some bandits that were hoping to get an easy score. The bandits were solely mistaken as they soon learned that they attacked the wrong party. Feynriel was the one to work his magic as he used his powers to shatter their minds and leave them a drooling mess for the next hour.

If anything unfortunate happened to the bandits while they were gone, it wasn't the party's problem. But before leaving, Urien made sure to pit-pocket the bandits to take what silver they had on them for good measure.

Resuming their journey, it took about two days for them to make it to the eastern border of Ferelden where the Arling of Amaranthine was. They spotted the coastline of the Waking Sea that would lead them to Antiva and Rivain.

A sigh of relief passed through Pyra's mouth as he could spot a fortress in the distance. They weren't too far from Vigil's Keep now, which is where they would find the Wardens that were stationed in its halls. And with any luck, Urien might find something of his father there, which would be of use to him on this quest.

So without skipping a beat, the party pressed onward to reach the Keep.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set over Amaranthine when the party arrived to the gates of Vigil's Keep. They spotted the guardsmen there who bore the Griffin Crest similar to the ones that the Wardens wore even though they weren't real Wardens. The guardsman halted their advance as it was their duty to protect the Keep and the town within the walls from intruders.

Connor stepped forward as he took a letter out from his satchel. He knew that the guards would know of him since he was the son of a powerful Arl in Ferelden. "My name is Connor Guerrin, son of Arl Eamon Guerrin of Redcliffe," said the young Mage. "I bear a letter with the seal of King Alistair Theirin. We are here to speak with the Warden Commander."

Examining the letter carefully, the guards finally stepped aside. They sent their apologies to the young noble and the rest of the party as they allowed them to pass freely to the Keep.

The Keep had been abandoned during the second Darkspawn invasion following the Fifth Blight. The Warden would leave the keep to protect Amaranthine City from destruction. Luckily, the Keep was well defended and could resist most of the Darkspawn's attacks despite the severe damage that had been done. Following the attacks, the Keep would be rebuilt even stronger than it was before.

The party approached the giant castle at the center of this walled off fortress. The townspeople of the Keep were returning home after a long day at work and saw the presence of the party as an anomaly for them. Part of it had to deal with the fact that a Kossith was in their company, which was odd since never had any party arrived to the keep with one in their party.

By now, Kadan was used to these uncomfortable looks that his presence received. They didn't bother him as much as it did when he first left Por Vollen, but it was still annoying.

Urien crossed his arms over his chest as they found themselves standing in front of the castle's front door. There were real Grey Wardens stationed there with Warden armor on with the true Griffin chest on their chests and shields.

"You wish to speak to the Warden Commander?" said the gatekeeper.

"If you don't mind," said Urien. "We are on a busy schedule. I'm sure that King Alistair has informed the Wardens of our needs."

"The king did," said the other gatekeeper. "We already have a ship secured for you in Amaranthine City. However, the Commander is out on the field. He has left behind one of our brothers to help you on your quest though."

"Better than nothing, I suppose," said Carver as he turned to Urien who agreed with him. At least they would still be receiving aid from the Wardens.

One of the gatekeepers disappeared into the castle to find the Warden that was to assist them. The party waited patiently outside as nightfall was almost upon them. It took only a few minutes before the gatekeeper returned with a dwarf in Warden armor in his company.

The dwarf was rather young; he didn't even have a full beard yet. The armor he wore also was designed for his smaller, stockier build but he still looked lethal enough since everyone knew to never underestimate dwarves for their fierce powers as Berserkers. His tanned complexion was surprising considering that he was a native of Orzammar, which was mixed against his dark hair.

"Hello, everyone," said the young Warden. "My name is Berg. The Warden Commander, Nathaniel Howe, has appointed me as your guide while you are in Amaranthine."

"Wonderful," said Feynriel. "But…you look rather young for a dwarf. Are you even an official Warden yet?"

A chuckle escaped from the gatekeepers, while Berg was less than thrilled by the minor insult.

"I am only nineteen years old," said Berg, "but I've been training with the Wardens since I was fifteen when I left Orzammar to fulfill my mother's wish. She wanted me to join as a knight of the man who saved my life when I was a babe. The Wardens appreciated my skill with the axe so I underwent the Joining Ritual on my eighteenth birthday and survived to be a full-fledged Warden."

"The man who saved you was Nathaniel Howe?" asked Carver. "The son of the Rendon Howe who is responsible for assassinating the Cousland Family and conspiring with Teyrn Loghain to overthrow the Theirin Monarchy?"

"By the Stone, no!" said Berg. "While I am grateful for Commander Howe for appreciating my talents and even after restoring his family's honor after his traitorous father nearly destroyed Ferelden, the man that saved my life was actually the youngest son of the Couslands! I was saved by the Hero of Ferelden himself when he convinced my mother's family to keep me as their son despite being born from a Casteless father."

Kadan was about to ask what that meant when Pyra intercepted him. The young man explained that dwarven culture divided its people amongst various classes: nobles, warriors, merchants, artisans/craftsmen, and the casteless. The casteless were the lowest of the low in dwarven culture, they virtually didn't exist which left them in the poorest living conditions and only eligible for dirty work or turning to a life of crime. In dwarven culture too, a child's caste was determined by their same-sex parent so if a dwarf had a child with someone from another caste, it could either be for the child to rise up or for the child to be sentenced to death if they ended up Casteless.

However, the Warden changed that in appointing Bhelen Aeducan to the throne. Despite the fact, Bhelen killed his eldest brother while falsely sentencing his older brother to death in the Deep Roads; Aedan helped him become king of Orzammar following his father's death. The brightside to Bhelen's ascension to the throne was that he fixed the Caste System, which provided salvation to the Casteless.

"My father saved you?" said Urien. "Wait a moment; I do vaguely remember him mentioning something about a dwarven child and his mother. What was her name…oh! Was it Zerlinda?"

"By the Ancestors!" said Berg as he practically pounced Urien. "It can't be! You…you really must be the son of the Hero of Ferelden if you know my mother's name!" Something that wasn't exactly appropriate for a Warden to do, Berg immediately bowed before Urien. His head hanging low as he practically appeared to be in worship to Urien. "Please, Master Cousland, accept my blade as yours. I swore my mother that I would repay the debt to the man who saved my life. If I cannot join his personal company then the least I can do is ensure the safety of his son for the journey he is to undertake against the Dragon Cult!"

Urien was grinning as he did like the way that Berg bowed before him. It raised his cockiness some, which everyone knew was going to get them into trouble in the future.

Despite this, Carver mentioned t would only be helpful to have a Grey Warden in their company. While he still had bitter memories about the Wardens, Anders, that was part of their party in Kirkwall, he had to admit that a Warden was good to have around. Especially since Wardens had the power to sense Darkspawn, which was handy to have in their pocket in case they ever ended up in the Deep Roads.

Urien had already been sold on the idea of having Berg joining them the moment the dwarf mentioned the debt. He accepted Berg's offer, which led to a joyous yell to escape from the Warden's throat. Berg was pretty much a mess after that as he made the party follow him into the Keep so that they could rest for the night before they made their way to the city in the morning to get that ship.

* * *

In the depths of the Keep as the moon ascended, Feynriel wandered freely without anyone paying him any attention. He preferred it this way as he snuck outside of the Keep's castle to find himself outside to feel the beauty and serenity of nature. This helped to put his mind at ease as he could feel such a strong tide enveloping Thedas in the wake of the Dragon's attack.

Feynriel allowed a deep breath to escape from his throat, while reaching into his pocket for an amulet. He held the black gem up to release the magic that was contained within it. The amulet radiated with power as its magic conjured up an image of the Mage that held the amulet's twin in his possession.

"We've arrived to Amaranthine," said Feynriel, "just as you wanted. Where is that you plan to be next?"

The amulet's light grew faintly to sharpen the image of the other owner. Stepping forward from the darkness of his location, Draco appeared in a ghostly fashion. The amulet was unable to create a perfect reflection, but it was good enough as Draco was leagues away from the Keep, which made being physically present in Feynriel's current location impossible.

Draco bore a grin on his face as he extended his hand out to Feynriel. "Our next destination will be Antiva," said Draco. "I have some business to contend to there. If you're fast then we might possibly make another appearance for you, but you'll have to hurry though."

"Well, we have the Wardens working on securing a ship," said Feynriel. "We should hopefully know more by morning."

"Excellent," said Draco. "Then we shall meet again soon enough."

The reflection from the amulets died out. Draco was no longer visible to Feynriel as the spell had come to a close, which meant that Feynriel could return to his quarters.

Pulling the hood of his cloak up, Feynriel turned back around to return to the Keep to get some rest. He left the tight alley that he had had himself into to deliver his message to Draco as he had visions of a warm bed waiting for him. It was just a little too nippy for him tonight so he couldn't wait to be back inside the Keep.

Without Feynriel knowing it though, he had been followed outside.

Hiding behind boxes of crates, Connor stood up just as Feynriel turned away. The young man huffed as he knew that Feynriel had been keeping something from him. Ever since they met in the Free Marches, Connor knew that Feynriel had some secrets up his sleeve, but he never imagined that Feynriel was involved with Cultists.

Connor didn't like this at all as he felt betrayed by his lover. He clenched onto his chest as he closed his eyes, trying to numb the pain that struck his heart because of Feynriel's deceit.

While Connor struggled to deal with his betrayal, another heart was breaking.

Urien had also followed them out since he wasn't sure he could trust the new Mages. He stood on top of a roof, using his magic to support his weight so that the roof wouldn't cave in on him. But that control was getting harder to maintain as Urien was furious at the moment. While he too was pissed off about Feynriel, Urien's bigger concern was Draco.

The raw anger that swelled within Urien grew rapidly. He couldn't believe that Draco was the one organizing the Dragon Cult. Granted, he should've realized it because there were read flags as he knew that only Draco was powerful enough to manipulate the Fade so flawlessly as Caver and Pyra described it to him.

Jumped from the roof, Urien knelt down to the ground with his fist hitting the dirt as he thought about what Draco's next move would be in Antiva.

* * *

When morning rose, the party resumed their journey with a new destination officially set.

Antiva was their target as the party followed Berg's lead to Amaranthine City where they would find their ship waiting for them. The ship, according to Berg, was a vessel large enough to ensure safety through the Waking Sea. It was also fortified enough to resist any attacks from raiders that might dare to attack them.

Pirates were the last thing that they needed to worry about. Pyra was particularly worried that the Dragon might attack them while they're out in sea, but Carver assured him that they'd be safe since dragons rarely flew over large bodies of water.

The party arrived to Amaranthine to find the city fully reconstructed following the events that transpired the year after the Blight. When Urien's father arrived to establish control over Amaranthine, the Arling was attacked by Darkspawn controlled by sentient Darkspawn known as the Architect and the Mother. Not much was known about the reasons for their existence, but Aedan would be responsible for slaying the Mother and stopping the invasion of sentient Darkspawn.

During the Darkspawns' attacks, Amaranthine City would barely hang in there from complete devastation. The Warden and his party abandoned Vigil's Keep to defend the city before his party went after the Mother and the Architect to stop the Darkspawn invasion.

The city had been restored to its former glory by Nathaniel Howe who had been made Warden Commander following Aedan's disappearance. The city's beauty was splendid as Berg made them pass through most of it in order to reach the port where their ship awaited them.

Docked at the end of the port was the Griffin, the ship that had been donated to Urien's party by the Grey Wardens. The party was marveled by the large ship as they approached it, finding that the crew was full of humans and a handful of elves.

"Come aboard, men!" said Berg. "It's time to hoist the anchors and sail to Antiva City!"

The party climbed onto the ship, waiting to set off. They were thrilled to finally make some real progress on their journey.

Within the hour, the Griffin had set sail for Antiva. It would take a few days for them to reach it so it was best to rest up.

Urien was hanging off the edge of the boat, while the rest of his party was scattered. He thought about Draco, feeling enraged that his companion was up to something and didn't deem him worthy enough to be trusted. It provoked Urien to second-guess Feynriel as well as he suddenly became unsure of trusting the Elf-blooded man.

Those thoughts had to be suppressed for the time being as a commotion was heard on deck. Urien was pulled away from gazing out to the beautiful sea when a pair of arms grabbed hold of him.

"Release me, bastards!" shouted Urien as the sailors dragged him.

The rest of the party was also in a peculiar situation.

Pyra, Connor, and Feynriel were unconscious as it became clear that they had been drugged by the sailors to ensure that they couldn't cast their spells. Kadan was also down as he appeared rather sluggish as multiple needles had pierced his flesh to temporarily paralyze him. Berg and Carver weren't exactly in much better shape as they were barely hanging in there.

Urien was kicked down to his knees where the captain of the ship approached him. There was nothing worthwhile about the man, but there was a peculiar insignia on his chest that he recognized of his father showing him.

It was the symbol of the Antiva Crows! The most feared guild of assassins in all of Thedas had seized control of the ship.

"Maker's Balls!" said Urien. "What could the Crows possibly want with us?"

"The Talons wish to speak with you, Son of Cousland," said the Crow. "We are to take escort you to our hideout in Antiva City for a meeting between them. Does that answer your question?"

Urien was about to yell at them when suddenly the world got dark. The young man realized that the Crows had drugged him too somehow as it became harder to keep his eyes opened. He fought for as long as he could, but even he found it impossible to keep his eyes opened as he fell to a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Awakening, Urien found himself on the cold ground as he smelt salt water in the air and felt a breeze drifting in. It was a slow process, but he steadily picked himself up as he saw that he was locked in some kind of prison cell. Fear gripped him as he tried to cast a spell to break himself free but would soon discover that his magic was blocked.

Just how the Crows could block the magic of an Old God was a mystery to him. Urien had to assume that maybe it was because he hadn't fully awakened the powers of his past life, which is why he couldn't do the magical talents that he needed at the moment.

The only brigtside to this situation was that he wasn't alone. The rest of the party was also in the cell with him, although, without any of their weapons. They were also stripped of most of their clothes. The Crows only allowed them to keep their undergarments up to cover their privates, but kept them naked of any other articles of clothing.

"You're awake, young Cousland," said Berg as he sat against the wall.

Urien turned to see the dwarf in his undressed state. Berg was as stocky as most dwarves, but he was a little firmer than the others due to his training with the Wardens as it was clear that he had some shaped muscles. This caused Urien to examine the rest of his party members as he saw that Carver and Kadan were the only ones with large, fully developed muscles. Connor and Pyra were on the leaner side of things, while Feynriel was only in slightly better shape than those two.

Suddenly, Urien felt a little more self-esteem about his toned physique as he approached the cell door.

"Let us the fuck out of here or I swear to the Maker that I will murder you all!" shouted Urien as loudly as he could.

"No need to threaten anyone, mi amor."

Stepping out from a corner outside of the cell was an elven man. He had a youthful look on his face with a tattoo on his face that matched the Blood-Writings of the Dalish. His blond hair was braided nicely to go off with the elegant, light armor that he wore.

What was most important though about this man was the keys that he had dangling in his hands. He held them up for the party to see as he showed that he was willing to let them free. However, they all knew that would come with a price, at least, that was what they had believed until Carver jumped from his corner of the cell with Pyra following behind him.

"Zevran!" shouted the couple.

"Hello, my friends!" said the famed assassin, Zevran Arainai. "It is good to see that you both are alive and well. Actually, maybe not so well considering that you're locked up in one of the Crows' dungeons. Granted, this is one of our nicer dungeons where we keep our higher ranking targets."

That didn't seem to cheer any of them up when Zevran said that. Carver and Pyra were begging for them to be released when the elf simply inserted the key in.

"Well, it's fortunate for you that I have the authority to free you," said Zevran. "Actually, I am the one who requested you be brought to Antiva City."

"We're already in Antiva City?" said Connor.

Zevran nodded his head as he began his explanation before any of them tried to kill him.

Word had reached him from Ferelden about the Dragon Cult. The elf knew about Urien's party coming to Antiva so he decided to intercept them with help from Nathaniel. The Crows wanted to ensure Urien and his party's safe arrival to the city since a lot was at stake.

Carver questioned Zevran's logic, especially since him and Pyra travelled with Zevran before. After Knight-Commander Meredith's death, Zevran accompanied the Champion's party as they fled from Kirkwall. He stayed with them as they went into hiding before he disappeared about two years after Garret disappeared with his elven lover, Fenris.

"Like you would've come if I had asked of you to," said Zevran.

"Yes, we would've," said Carver. "You're probably the only assassin in all of Thedas who hasn't tried to kill me or my brother at some point!"

"Oh," said Zevran as he felt a little a fool. "My apologies then. I suppose even a Talon can make poor judgment. You figured I would've learned better from the time that I spent with the Hero of Ferelden."

That peaked Urien's curiosity as he should've realized it sooner. Zevran had been one of Aedan's travelling companions during the Blight. The elf had been hired by Teyrn Loghain to kill Aedan and Alistair, but he failed on his mission. Aedan spared the elf's life, even assisting him in keeping the Crows from trying to assassinate Zevran for failing his job.

Zevran was indebted to the Warden after that as he made it his mission to reform the Crows, which he had successfully done two years ago. He was able to murder the majority of the old Guildmasters and even one of the Talons to where he gained significant control of the Crows.

"Well, I suppose I should tell you of my intentions," said Zevran. "The threat of this Dragon Cult worries even us Crows. We don't like our rule being endangered by anything, even a dragon! So the other Talons have agreed to have me accompany you to ensure that this Dragon and its cult is slayed."

"Brutal," said Connor. "Now, I wouldn't turn down aid from the Antivan Crows. Their lethal skills could be of use to us."

"Like they wouldn't try to stab us in the back life all assassins end up doing?" asked Berg.

"Except for me!" countered Zevran. "I'd never stab the son of Aedan Cousland or his friends in the back. In fact, I even allowed Aedan to stab me in the back, if you catch my drift."

Urien wanted to gag right then and there. He couldn't believe that his dad's former whores was trying to flirt with him. Carver and Pyra ended up rolling their eyes as they told Zevran to cool it down some.

Zevran wanted to disagree, but he found it to be rather pointless. He simply opened their cell door so that they would be free as he mentioned that he would bring them their clothes and weapons back. Well, after he took a few more moments to admire their half-naked selves, after all, Zevran was an admirer of the male and female bodies, regardless of race they were from.

Well, except for the undead or Darkspawn or any other kind of monster. Zevran did have some standards after all.

* * *

Leading them out from the Crows' dungeons and into the light, Zevran welcomed them to Antiva City. He promised them that he'd take them to the finest whorehouse so met plenty of beautiful women and men of all races while they drowned themselves in fine wine. Antiva, after all, was famous for their vineyards too, not just their assassins.

There was many more things that Zevran offered to show them when they soon began to hear screaming. Explosions went off with fires spreading throughout the city, which caused several alarms to be raised. Zevran and Berg were at a loss at what was happening, but everyone else understood that the Dragon Cult was here in Antiva now.

Antiva City soon fell as quickly as Denerim had.

The Cultists flooded the streets as they demolished everything in their path. The fact that there were warriors and rogues running amuck that left even the Crows feeling inadequate against them.

Zevran found this to be a shocking surprise as he avoided debris that came down as a wall fell to the ground. The elf avoided with the skill expected of an assassin as he drew a dagger out from his armor to slit the throat of a nearby Cultists. With the man dying before him, the elf looked up to spot Cultists Mages were present in the area.

Since they were part of the cult then it could only mean one thing, Maleficar. While Blood Mages were frightening enough, Maleficar were a hundred times worse because of their activate association with Demons.

The Cultists Mages sent out their magics across Antiva to summon several corpses, which could easily number in the thousands if the Mages had their way. So far, only a few dozen corpses arose, but given how many people that the Crows had buried in the city then the living would be swarmed by the dead in a matter of hours.

Feynriel and Pyra volunteered to take care of the Cultists Mages while everyone else worked on keeping the streets clear. Zevran agreed to this as he sent out his Crows across the city to keep the Cultists from progressing further into the city.

The party was about to make their move when they heard the roar of the Cultists' Dragon. They looked up to the sky, seeing the colossal Dragon flying through the city where it eventually nested near a set of building on the far corner of the city. Zevran called them the Velabanchel prison, which is where some of the most lethal of all prisoners in Antiva were held. The Dragon roared ferociously as it spewed fire into the air as its Cultists ran wild.

"Let's get to work!" shouted Urien as he charged towards the prison.

Everyone got to work in taking out the Cultists and the corpses that had been summoned to block their path.

Urien sliced off the head of a Cultist in such a manner that it even impressed Zevran for the youth's heartless attack. Berg slammed the end of his axe into a Cultist's chest before swinging it forward to split him in half. Zevran liked the Warden's skill too as he grabbed a hold of a second dagger that he had laced with poison that he used to leave an injured Cultist to a slow, painful death.

Carver struck several Cultists with his greatsword to rip them to pieces. Feynriel was nearby too as he laced his sword with an electrifying spell that he used to shock every Cultist that got caught in his blade's path. The sword worked well in making the Cultists drop like flies as Kadan kept to the back of the group to shoot his arrows to perform a fatal shot against his targets.

Pyra and Connor were busy working on dealing with the enemy Mages. Connor blew a bit of air to his hand to create a fiery spell. He saw some Mages had their backs away from him so he exploited this opening as he hurled the fireball after them to burned them all to ash. Pyra shot out a freezing spell to stop approaching corpses before setting his sights on the Mages that summoned them. Swinging his staff around, Pyra generated a cyclone of wind that he released in the direction of the Cultists to rip them apart.

With more of the Cultists and corpses dropping every minute, the party was gradually making their way to the prison.

The prison was surprisingly quiet despite Zevran mentioning over a hundred prisoners were present. Ascending up the stairs that ran alongside the prisons, the party noticed that the cell doors were locked but there were no sign of the prisoners there. This led to a bad feeling to wash over all of them as they ascended further up the stairs to reach the Dragon.

It took them a while, but eventually they made it to the top of the prison. It was there that everyone would get a good close up of the Dragon that the Cultists worshipped as they looked at this crimson dragon with pure wonder.

"That's a big dragon," whispered Zevran as he noted that it was larger than the Archdemon.

Laughter filled the air as the Dragon turned to the party. The beast did not attack, but laughter could still be heard as the party wondered where it came from.

Eventually, a figure emerged from underneath the Dragon with Carver and Pyra recognizing him almost immediately. It was the old Mage that had attacked them in Denerim, the Mage that had sent them both to the Fade against their will.

"Fools!" laughed the old Mage. "You come willingly to meet your deaths, hoping to stop the Lord Dragon! You're even more foolish then the prisoners that had tried to resist the greatness of our Lord Dragon!"

Urien showed no fear as he stepped away from his group, swinging his sword forward before pointing it at the Mage. "And you're a fool for worshipping a beast," said Urien. "I hate to break this to you, but dragons are known for taking kindly to mortals. They like to rip fleshy things apart with their teeth."

"Candeleto knows the price of service, but do you know what a dragon truly desires?" came a new voice.

This immediately caused Urien to drop hold of his sword as he felt paralyzed by this voice. He had no idea where it came from, nor did anyone else in his party until they heard the Mage Priest, Candeleto, begin to laugh at them.

"My Lord!" said Candeleto. "You deem these insignificant beings as worthy of hearing your voice?"

"These beings are our only real threat in all of Thedas," said the voice.

Berg's jaw dropped as he realized where the voice was coming from. He couldn't believe it though as he looked up at the Dragon, realizing that the Dragon was actually talking to them.

The rest of the party was equally astonished by this as they never knew a Dragon as being able to speak.

"Know this, mortals," said the Dragon. "I will burn Thedas to ash. I will rain down fire on every man, woman, and child. I will cleanse this land so that it may be reborn from the Taint that corrupts all things." Lifting its head up, the Dragon spewed more fire into the sky. Candeleto couldn't help but to laugh more as he was held up by the Dragon's paw. "Nothing you can do will stop me either. Salvation will come to Thedas from my fire."

"So let it be!" praised Candeleto.

The Dragon flew up into the sky, taking the priest away with it as the disappearance of the beast meant the end of the siege on Antiva City.

Corpses returned to being just corpses as the Cultists escape. The Crows were unable to kill all of their enemies, but some semblance of order, what little order there was to begin with, was restored to the city. However, it left fear in the wake for everyone as they found themselves facing the wraith of the Dragon Cult and their mighty Dragon Lord.

Antiva City burned. The damage was nowhere near as severe as it was in Denerim, but it didn't meant that the city was in the best of conditions either.

The party spent what was left of the day, regrouping as they tried to figure out what was next on their plans. With Antiva in a pitiful state, the only nearby country that had yet to be touched by the cult was Rivain. It was the logical place for them to go next which the part decided to set course for in the morning as they sought to dismantle the cult.

It just so happened that Zevran had some allies in Rivain that could be of assistance to them. He urged them to make sure that they hurried there as it would be very beneficial to them in the long run.

With a destination set, the party decided to spend the rest of the time recovering for the night.

* * *

Carver was amongst the first of them to pass out. Berg, Kadan, and Zevran fell asleep not long after he did, but the Mages in their group were too wired to sleep yet.

Sleep consumed Carver quickly enough though as his dreams would soon turn to nightmares.

_Non-Mages had no business in the Fade. Granted, everyone entered the Fade while they slept, only Mages were aware of this. Non-Mages simply passed through the Fade without anyone noticing them, except this time._

_Carver felt his mind becoming active despite the fact that he knew that he was sleeping. He opened his eyes to discover that he was back in the Amell Estate in Kirkwall. The home that belonged to his mother's family, the noble House of Amell. Carver had only been to the estate a few times after him and his brother succeeded in restoring their mother's right to her childhood home after they had fled Ferelden during the Blight. _

_The first thought that came to him was of his poor mother. She had been killed by a Blood Mage because she looked like the man's dead wife as he made a mad effort to bring his wife back to life. Garrett had tried hard to save her but it was too late for Leandra Amell-Hawke to be saved. That moment nearly destroyed Garrett, more so then the loss of their sister, Bethany, during the Blight. Carver was fortunate that the Order allowed him time to leave so that he could grieve along with his brother and their Uncle Gamlen, their mother's younger brother. _

_Those thoughts were expelled as the estate soon turned to a place of hell for Carver. _

_Men and women started to emerge from thin air as they soon surrounded Carver. All of them were extremely beautiful, terrifyingly so that Carver knew that this must be a trap of some sort. It was made all the more clear to him as he knew that these men and women were naked as they began to touch and feel his flesh._

_They praised him for his body as they slowly undressed him. Carver knew this to be so wrong, but his body somehow refused to fight their touch. It felt so warm and inviting to have someone touch him so intimately. He had refused Pyra's advances for so long because of the oath of chastity he took in the Order. While he may no longer be a Templar, he still felt that he needed to maintain the oath he made to the Maker._

_However, things in the Fade blurred those lines._

_Hands soon cupped his privates, squeezing his growing erection as the men and women admired his size and girth. They spat other compliments about his well-developed muscles too. They spoke so many pretty things to him that Carver found it harder and harder to resist the temptations that danced before him._

_All of the resistance that he had built up since becoming a Templar initiate began to melt. He almost completely surrounded to these creatures when a burst of burning light flashed before them._

_"Begone now, Demons!" howled a deep voice. "Leave this man be!"_

_Hisses escaped from the men and women as they were revealed to be Desire Demons. The purple-skinned Demons fled the illusion of the Amell Estate, leaving Carver naked and his mind broken._

_There was an echo in the halls as Carver knew that he wasn't alone. He feared it to be another Demon when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and a familiar scent taking hold of him. This caused Carver to rise as he soon felt another hand begin to touch his naked body as well._

_Carver recognized the person that stood before him as Draco, the man that had threatened Pyra and him the other day. Now though, Draco was not as threatening as he seemed that day as he too was as naked as he saw._

"_Poor Carver," said Draco. "You keep so much hidden behind your handsome face and smooth chest. Why don't you allow yourself freedom to be who you are? Why are you so afraid to see the true you for once?"  
_

_The touch ignited something primal within Carver that he had worked so hard to keep back. It surge fought hard but Carver suppressed it as he bit down on his tongue as he shot pleading looks to Draco for him to stop._

"_I cannot afford to lose control again," said Carver. "I've hurt innocents before. I killed those who did not deserve to suffer."_

"_Their blood might stain your hands, but it was not your fault," said Draco. "You were forced. You had no control over your body. But now, you do." Draco moved his hand lower, running it down Carver's abs before grabbing hold of his erection. "Surrendering yourself does not mean losing control. Embrace the freedom to be who you are; embrace the uncertainty. Regain control of the life that you so desperately deserve."_

The temptation was strong, making Carver to believe that this man was a demon. But Draco wasn't, Carver could feel that as he sensed nothing malicious about Draco. However, he didn't exactly sense anything good about him either. It was like…it was like Draco was something else entirely, something beyond humans or Mages, beyond Demons or Spirits.

_Draco whispered for Carver to allow himself freedom as he pressed their lips together, planting the seed of freedom into Carver's mind as their bodies pressed together in the Fade. _

Waking up in the middle of the night, Carver found himself shaking. His naked chest was dripping with sweat as he heard Pyra sleeping soundly beside him. The vivid dream flashed across Carver's eyes as he felt like he really touched, kissed, and fucked Draco even though it all happened in the Fade. His ass even felt a bit of a pain, a pain that he felt when Draco had penetrated him.

This couldn't be possible though. Carver didn't see how it could've truly meant anything, but he did feel a certain ease that had come from him accepting freedom like he had in his dream. It brought his mind to an ease for what felt like the first time in his life.

It was then that Carver realized that he made a bit of a mess with his undergarments as he felt a similar stickiness that he hadn't felt since he was just starting to go through puberty.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: And here is chapter 6! Just like I promised y'all! Now read and review! :)**

**Chapter 6:**

Things were quiet in Rivain. After all the trouble that he had gone through during his life between surviving the horrid Caste System of Orzammar, navigating the treacherous Merchant Guilds, and keeping the Carta and Coterie in line was a difficult thing to accomplish. All of the cutthroats were a pain in the ass, but it was still a breeze between fighting Qunari, Darkspawn, Templars, or Demons.

Thieves and nobles can be deceived, the rest were problematic because they were overly aggressive and didn't understand a game of deceit.

At least now, he didn't have to worry about that.

Varric Tethras threw his dice on the board as he played a game with the locals. He was teaching some kids how trick people like a proper, cunning rogue. The kids enjoyed the games that they learned from the dwarf, but what they most enjoyed were his stories.

And boy, did Varric have stories to tell. He had seen the rise of the Champion of Kirkwall, he assisted King Alistair in finding his father and killing a Tevinter Magister, and he had played an active role in the Inquisition. Thinking about the Inquisition made Varric's blood boil as he had far too many bad memories about it. At least his memories of Kirkwall were far better, even if they were awful and bloody too. But at least Garrett was a good man; a better man then the Inquisitor or that crazy Seeker, Cassandra.

Continuing the game, Varric sat in his dusty, leather jacket that he had since he left the Deep Roads. He kept it well mended by a lovely seamstress here in the Rivain who was also responsible for keeping his hair in line too.

Enjoying his life of solitude, Varric kept the game going as the children were anxious to learn more from the funny dwarf.

* * *

Stories were told as the drunk raveled at the stories that Varric told them at the tavern in Llomerryn.

Varric was treated almost as well as royalty in Rivain. The people simply adored him as well as all the stories that he told them. He knew so much, experienced so much. It helped to distract them form the misfortune of their lives just to hear him talk.

This was a great time for him. He was able to enjoy the simple life with him and his beloved, Bianca, the crossbow.

Retiring into his quarters in the tavern, Varric decided it was time to get some sleep. He took another cup of ale with him as he had to pull himself away from the drunken men and lively women of Llomerryn.

In the privacy of his quarters, Varric finished his cup of ale when he heard a disturbance at the tavern. A deep sigh escaped from the dwarf's throat as he knew damn well that his peace was shattered. Turning his chair around, he found himself facing a few faces that he had never expected to see again.

Then again, knowing his life, Varric should've expected them.

"Zevran! Carver! Pyra!" said Varric with a false grin on his face. "What a surprise."

Approaching the dwarf, Urien and his party entered the sanctuary that Varric had created for himself. Carver had to admit that it reminded him to the private room that Varric had back in Kirkwall at the Hanged Man.

When they had left Antiva, Zevran made it clear that they needed one more member to complete their team. He brought up Varric, causing Carver and Pyra to agree that they would be in need of the storyteller's assistance. The course was set after that decision was made as they took a ship belonging to the Crows to make their way to Rivain.

Zevran knew that he had to do the talking as this was a delicate situation. There was still a lot of trauma there from what happened to Varric during the Inquisition, many things that he'd rather not discuss.

"You look positively handsome, my friend!" said Zevran. "You must tell me your secret!"

"Oh stop it, Zev," laughed Varric. "Quit trying to butter me up."

Zevran shouted at the barkeeper to bring them a round of ale. More chairs were brought in to take care of them all as Zevran held his cup of ale up with Varric.

The two continued to talk about random nonsense. Feynriel, Connor, Berg, and even Kadan found themselves enjoying the stories that Varric told them. Feynriel was mildly familiar with Varric since he was also a native from Kirkwall so he knew about the famous dwarf and the dwarf had even been responsible for helping to save his life.

Listening to the stories, Urien found himself growing impatient. He couldn't see why they needed to go through this mindless rabble. Yes, it was cute that the old friends were catching up, but seriously, they had a Dragon to worry about!

"Really!" said Urien. "Can we move on now? Seriously, we need to go after the Dragon Cult!"

"Boy, you don't want to go after cults," said Varric. "It never ends well."

"The cult is led by a talking dragon," added Pyra as he sipped his ale.

Varric dropped his ale right there upon hearing that. His eyebrows raised as he had difficulty processing that bit of information for a minute. "A talking dragon?" said Varric. "Like Flemeth?"

"No, it's a real dragon," said Carver. "Not some crazy, old bat who likes to pretend to be a dragon."

"That old bat is my grandmother," said Urien.

Once more, Varric felt like he was hit by a wagon. He had heard about the Hero of Ferelden having a child with the daughter of Flemeth, but he had no idea that he'd actually meet that child.

Downing his ale, Varric knew he was going to need to be drunk to even consider working with these whack jobs. "You have to be kidding me!" said Varric. "You want me to help you fight a dragon cult and your party is led by the kid of the Hero of Ferelden!"

"It would make for a hell of a story," stressed Zevran. "You'll witness the rise of Thedas's next great hero."

"Yes, but this is practically a death sentence," said Varric. "I'll only agree to this utter insanity if I get to make fun of Junior!"

"Varric, I'm almost forty," said Carver.

"You'll always be Junior to me, Little Hawke," said Varric as he finished the last of his ale.

Carver would've punched the dwarf had Pyra not pulled him back. Laughter escaped from the rest of the party as they knew that Varric was going to be picking on Caver for the remainder of their journey.

* * *

Sitting by the end of a river that ran through Llomerryn, Urien found peace away from the rest of his party. He had to admit that Varric's stories were hilariously entertaining, but he still needed his own privacy considering that he was surrounded by so many personalities. This was a first to him since he never been around anyone besides his parents, and well, Draco, of course.

Urien splashed his hand against the water to create a large ripple that spread throughout the lake as he smiled a little. The ripple of the water rose more so to create gentle waves as he used his magic to provide himself some mild form of entertainment.

"You're bold for using magic in the open, considering what the Seekers of Truth and the Templars did to the Dairsmuid Circle," came a feminine voice.

"I'm not afraid of mere mortals," laughed Urien. "I'd like to see a Seeker try to kill me. He'd find himself in far more pain then I would."

"Is that so?"

Rising to his feet, Urien was about to question the person hassling him when he saw a beautiful woman standing before him.

She was reasonably tall for a woman with curly, black hair on her head. She was dressed in simple robes that would be seen on a well-off woman, which carried her thin, curvy form stunningly. The most mesmerizing part of this woman though was her black eyes that had a faint, purple iris that just captured Urien's attention.

The stunning creature before him just made his jaw dropped as he found himself pulled by her charm. She seemed to be equally amused by the handsome lad as she extended her hand out to him.

"Meranna Titus," she said, introducing herself.

"Urien Cousland," said Urien as he took her hand.

Smiling, Meranna mentioned that it was nice to meet him. The feelings were mutual for Urien as he found himself desiring to learn more about her, especially since she could sense powerful Mana within her.

Another Mage.

Before the two could even attempt to learn anything else about each other, the ground began to shake. The spun back to the port city to find smoke rising as the roar of a dragon could be heard, which alerted Urien that the Cultists were here now too.

He immediately took off to deal with this threat, leaving Meranna behind. She appeared frightened by him running off into the fire, but she found the will to trust his judgment even if it was completely reckless.

* * *

Zevran led the party out of the tavern, all of them tipsy as Varric mentioned that he'd find them a nice place to stay for the night. He even threw in for Zevran the promise of nice lady innkeepers with large bosoms and their sons with pretty rumps to sweeten the deal. The rest of the party had to roll their eyes, while Zevran simply hollered for joy at the promise of a good night of sex.

However, that celebration was about to be interrupted by the roar of a dragon.

That mighty roar was powerful enough to sober the party up. They took out their arms as they looked around for a dragon to attack them as they spotted the Cultists' Dragon God flying overhead. That wasn't even the worst part though as smaller dragons were spotted in tow then there was a louder set of roars as drakes started to wander down the streets.

The smaller dragons landed on the ground, beside the male drakes as they prepared to make their attack upon the city of Llomerryn. They spread their draconic havoc, but that was far from being the end of it.

It was if they sensed the disorder that befell the Rivain. Qunari began to flood the streets as well as the Kossith were dressed in their war armor as they began to attack anything in sight, in the name of Qun.

"Horn heads and dragons!" shouted Varric as he grabbed his crossbow, Bianca. "You lot know how to party."

"This isn't normal for us," said Pyra as he drew out his staff. "We normally deal with crazy humans."

"Kid, all humans are crazy," said Varric as he took aim at his first drake. The arrow was released, sailing across the road where it shot the drake through the eye. The drake cried out in pain as he fell to the ground and died.

The battle was on as everyone started to spread out around the island city to eliminate the invading forces of the Dragon Cult and Qunari.

While dragons and drakes were a pain in the ass, Qunari were the worst. They were ferociously strong and hard to kill, which was going to make this battle all the more difficult for them to survive.

Carver and Varric had experience in killing Qunari so they weren't too worried. Zevran too was battle-hardened enough to know how to take a Kossith down. Kadan knew all of their weaknesses since he was a Kossith and ex-Qunari.

The team worked on clearing out the mess before the people of the Rivain could suffer a cruel fate from the invaders.

Feynriel blocked the axe of a Qunari with his sword before kicking him back with a blast of magic from his foot. Casting another spell, the Dreamer ignited the Qunari to burn him to a crisp before erecting a shield around himself a dragon shot fire at him. He shot a bolt of lightning at the dragon to shock its entire body to death.

Avoiding a drake's bite, Berg snuck underneath the beast as he dragged his axe against the soft underbelly of the drake to kill it. Once the young Warden moved out from the corpse, he swung his axe once more to cut off the head from a Qunari as he charged his way towards a dragon. He always wanted to slay a dragon.

Three dragons surrounded Connor, spewing fire at him with hopes to burning him to a crisp. The Mage would not go down so easily as he blew in an icestorm to kill the fire. He then slammed his staff down to the ground, sending forth a powerful wave of magic that shot the dragons down, burning their thick hides to a crisp instead of him.

Carver blocked a Qunari axe with his greatsword as he used all of the strength in him to slam the Qunari against a brick wall. He slammed his fist into the exposed side of the Kossith to inflict enough pain to provide the ex-Templar with the opportunity to drive his sword through the armor of the Qunari to kill him.

Pyra send out bolts of spirit magic at some drakes to keep them from getting any closer to him. His issues with fire were starting to kick in, especially as he spotted a dragon coming closer towards him. So before the dragon could belch out her fire, Pyra shot a powerful blast of ice magic at the dragon to encase it completely before he shot a magical blast of earthy energy to shatter the dragon to pieces.

With so many of their foes falling, it made the situation in Llomerryn look a little less hopeless.

Kadan fended off a Qunari that spitted out curses at him in the Qunari language. Pulling a knife out from his side, Kadan struck his enemy in the throat, slitting it open completely. "I may be Tal-Vashooth," said Kadan, "but don't think you are better than me. The Qun isn't the only answer to life. I seek my own path now."

"Traitor!" spat another Qunari as he raised his bow and arrow, taking aim at Kadan.

The Qunari was about to shoot when three arrows pierced his skull. He fell to the ground, dead on the spot as Varric appeared behind him with Bianca. "Well, that was pretty easy," said Varric. "You alright there, Hawkeye?"

"Much appreciated, dwarf," said Kadan. "Now…Hawkeye?"

"Everyone gets a funny nick name from me," said Varric. "Zev's is Casanova."

Another Qunari fell on the spot as Zevran appeared on his back. The elven assassin had stabbed the Kossith repeatedly with his poisonous daggers to bring a swift death to his enemy. "I do appreciate the thought, my friend," said Zevran as he got off the corpse. "Now, what do you say we get back together with the rest of the group?"

"Sure," said Varric, "but where's the Brat?"

"Brat?" asked Kadan.

"Urien," said Zevran as he knew exactly who Varric was talking about.

And speak of the devil, a dragon fell to the ground as Urien was seen standing behind the beast with his sword covered in blood and gore. He cleaned off of his sword as he approached the three rogues with the rest of the party soon gathering around.

Normally, by now, they'd see the person who organized the assault. So far, they had no idea what was going on and why the Qunari chose now to attack other than the fact that Llomerryn was vulnerable because of the cult's presence.

"Is this the type of shit I'm supposed to expect for running off with you lot?" said Varric.

"Don't be upset, Uncle Varric. This is just how we play the game here."

The party turned as they knew that the mastermind behind the attack was here. The party spotted the dragon priest, Candeleto, present with a young, dwarven woman beside him.

She was tall for a dwarf, but still under the average for a human woman. She was firmly built, but Varric knew that she was rather flexible and able to maneuver her way around tight spaces easily enough. Her dirty blonde hair fell on her shoulders as she stared at the assembled party.

Varric withdrew Bianca as he stared at her, his eyes wide as he gazed upon her sea-green eyes. "Beatrix," said the dwarf. "What…what are you doing here?"

"Serving the Great Dragon!" said Beatrix Tethras. "He has chosen me as his warrior so I shall serve him in bringing about a cleansed Thedas!"

"No offense, love," said Varric, "but you sound as insane as your father when the Red Lyrium idol corrupted his mind."

"Do you plan on killing me then, Uncle Varric?" asked Beatrix. "Would you really kill your own niece?"

Carver, Pyra and Zevran were taken back upon hearing this since they had no idea that Varric's older brother, Bartrand, had a child. They really wondered what this family tension would create when a powerful gust of air blew in.

The party and the cult took cover as a new player entered the field.

Urien was the first to uncover his eyes as he spotted Meranna standing in front of them. She carried a long, black staff in her hand with her body glowing from the Mana that she was collecting around her. "Leave this place, wicked ones!" said the female Mage. "You do not belong here!"

"Like you have any power over us!" laughed Candeleto as he hurled a bolt of fire magic at her. "Soon enough, you won't even be able to light a hallway with your magic!"

Meranna neutralized the spell as she hurled a vicious gust of wind after them. Candeleto and Beatrix were gone before the attack could hit them though as they cleared away from Llomerryn with the dragons and Qunari fleeing soon enough as well.

However, this didn't got without leaving a parting gift for Urien.

As the last of the Qunari were leaving, one lingered behind longer than the others. The Qunari trained his arrow on Urien which was enchanted by Candeleto's magic. Releasing the arrow, the arrow pierced Urien's back without doing any vital damage to his body.

Urien collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain as something undesirable happened. Candeleto wanted damage done to Urien so he enchanted the arrow with a magic, sealing enchantment to make Urien all the more vulnerable.

Before the Qunari could escape, Varric shot him down with Bianca, while Meranna set the body on fire as punishment.

* * *

In the aftermath of the attack on Llomerryn, the island faired far better than Antiva City or Denerim had. The damage done by the dragons and drakes were far less then what the Dragon could've done had it been more interested in attacking. Luckily enough, there weren't as many causalities as Urien and his party successfully repelled the cultists' attacks.

However, Urien paid a greater as his magic was severally reduced. Connor, Feynriel, Pyra, and Meranna worked on trying to break Candeleto's seal. None of them were strong enough to break through though, which left them frustrated and Urien downright going insane. Without any other choice, they had to abandon trying to break the seal for tonight as everyone was too exhausted from the day's battle.

The party retired in the local inn, which actually had some vacancies for the night, while Meranna and Varric retired to their own homes. Most of the party was cramped into one room, but Carver and Pyra found themselves alone in small room as they shared their small bed.

Pyra slipped out of his robes as he climbed underneath the covers as he wore just his small clothes. He didn't expect much to happen that night; he barely expected a kiss goodnight from Carver. In the last two years since they started their relationship, they never had sex and only really kissed only once in a blue moon.

So Pyra was about to let himself drift off into sleep when he felt a pair of hands snack their way around his waist. Rough hands grabbing hold of him caused Pyra to open up his eyes as Carver was underneath the covers with him. It was no surprise to see Carver without his shirt on, the dark hairs along his chest dusting his well carved muscles.

No what really caught Pyra by surprise was the look of lust in Carver's eyes. The young man had no idea what to say or do really until Carver smashed their lips together as he climbed on top of the Mage.

Clothes were pulled off, kisses fell upon lips, and nails dug against flesh.

Pyra held back the powerful urges to scream as he clung onto Carver, feeling every inch of Carver's erection penetrating him, causing him to softly cry out in bliss.

* * *

While some of his friends slept and some of his friends screwed each other, Urien wandered outside the inn in the middle of the night. He brought his sword with him, considering that he just lost nearly all of his magic.

The stars looked truly beautiful tonight despite the destruction that befell Llomerryn from the cult's attack.

Urien found peace again in his loneliness away from the rest of the group. He allowed his mind to calm itself down, especially since he knew he was getting further and further away from finding his mother because of the damn cult. He spilt some curses from his lips as he damned the cult to the deepest pits of the Fade.

Anger would've sent Urien over the edge had he not felt someone else's presence nearby. He turned his head back around, spotting Draco there at Rivain too. This was the moment where Urien wished he had enough power to set a person on fire, but he could barely even had the strength to light up a torch.

"Fuck you!" shouted Urien as he pulled out his sword.

Draco swatted the sword aside as got closer toward Urien. It was made easier since Urien had no magic to protect himself with, while Draco still had all of his powers. "That's not how this relationship works, love," laughed Draco. "I see that Candeleto worked his dark enchantments on you. I'm sorry that it had to play out like this."

Pressing their bodies against the wall, Draco had Urien exactly where he wanted him. The younger male didn't exactly want to be an easy target as he reached into his back pocket for his knife. "Get away from me," growled Urien as Draco had him pinned. "I want nothing more to do with a psychopath like you. I know that you're with the Dragon Cult, and I know that you or Feynriel can't be trusted."

"Oh, love," whispered Draco. "It really amazes me how empty that pretty head of yours is. You have no idea what's really going on here."

Urien tried to plunge the knife into Draco's ribs, but magic stopped him. Draco took the knife away from him and tossed it to the ground before he grabbed Urien by his legs, lifting him up. "The Fade was just a playground," whispered Draco as he had complete control over Urien now. "Would you like to see what I can really do with your body? I promise that you'll enjoy it."

Knowing damn well that his response should've been know, especially knowing that Draco was playing for the wrong team, Urien wanted to fight this. But it was like Draco said, they had played around so much in the Fade. They never had the chance to really be together like this, only in the place where dreams lingered and nightmares were born.

At that, Urien did learn some things from Zevran on their way to Rivain, sex was the best way to find out information as men always spilled their guts as they spilled their seed.

And with curiosity killing him too, Urien agreed to wanting to see what Draco could really do in the inn's alley.


	7. Chapter 7

******Author's Note: Well, faithful readers, I'm sad to say that this will be the final update for Call of the Ancients. I'm putting the story on indefinite hiatus so as a final gift, I'm leaving ya'll with chapter 7 & 8. I simply cannot find the motivation or time to see this story to the end, considering all of my other commitments. So...I'm sorry to say that this is the end for the story. Now, if you have any burning questions on how everything was to play out then feel free to message me your questions. Thank you all. Now Enjoy.**

**Chapter 7:**

Awakening earlier than usual, Urien found himself naked in a barn with a thin cloth covering his toned form. He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed when he felt heat building up behind him along with a familiar scent. It didn't take long for Urien to recognize it as he threw the cloth off him and retrieved his clothes from the ground.

"Will you tell me how to break the seal now?" said Urien as he retrieved his small clothes first.

Draco entered Urien's personal space in just his pants. He exposed his ripped form as he ran his hand along the spine of the younger male as he tried to pull him back to their makeshift bed. "Must you really ask?" said Draco. "I'm sure you'd realize it by now what you have to do. It's something that is considered forbidden by man, but sacred to the gods."

Pushing the hand away from him, Urien got up from the small bed as he put his tunic back on before claiming his sword from the ground. He strapped it to his waist, making it clear to Draco that he wasn't going to be getting anything else from him that morning.

It took Urien but a second to realize what it was that Draco meant. There was only one form of magic that was forbidden by mortals and sacred to the gods, something that Urien never dabbled in despite the fact that he was a reincarnated Old God.

"Blood Magic," whispered Urien.

Smiling, Draco got up from the bed as he grabbed his own shirt. "Of course," said Draco. "While Candeleto is a powerful Mage, he is still but a man. He cannot contain a godly power forever, which is why you need to dig deeper then you've ever dug before. It'll release your true power, breaking you free from the bounds of physical limitations."

Urien sighed as he figured it would've come down to this sooner or later. He looked at his arm, focusing on his veins, knowing that blood was the key to breaking the seal over his body. It always was a big risk, giving into Blood Magic, a lesson that his mother taught him numerous times in their lessons.

Urien needed to tread carefully as he unleashed the powers that Blood Magic brought.

"What do you intend on doing now, Draco?" said Urien. "Who will you follow now? Do you plan on continuing to stalk me or are you just going to follow me?"

A smile crept on Draco's face as Urien knew the real answer to that.

* * *

Staring with a series of glares, the party found it troublesome to just accept Draco with open arms. The exception to the situation was Feynriel and Urien who knew better, but the rest of the party was uncertain about him. Carver and Pyra felt anxiety around him, considering the experiences that they had in the Fade with him. The danger was just too much for them to want to just allow Draco in without any question.

However, Meranna had no trouble breaking into their circle. The young woman was welcomed amongst the group of merry men almost immediately when she returned to the inn that they were staying at that morning. Varric already had a nickname ready for her; he dubbed her Raven in honor of this fiery Mage that he had met during the Inquisition.

Connor bit down on his tongue as he fixed the collar of his shirt. "I'm not so sure about this," he said as he focused in on Draco. He knew that Draco was involved with the Dragon Cult so trusting him seemed like a foolish thing to do. After seeing that Feynriel worked for Draco too, the young noble was finding it hard to even trust his partner. "Can we really trust this man? It's not like he comes with the highest amount of credentials."

"You took a chance with me though," argued Berg.

"That's different," said Carver. "You're a Warden, appointed to our group by one of our allies. Draco isn't as fortunate to come with a stunning letter of recommendation like you."

Rolling his eyes, Draco was tempted to say something very smart. The urge was even stronger considering he knew how passive Carver could be from the brief tumble that they had in the Fade, something that left Carver unable to really look at the man.

Pyra, on the other hand, was ready to throw him out the first chance that he got. "I don't see how he can be of use to us," said the Elf-blooded youth. "I think we've gone overboard with Mages."

"I'm handy with a blade too, if that makes you feel better," said Draco.

Zevran had to interfere before Pyra or anyone else could say something unsavory. He proudly announced Draco's welcome to the group as he wanted to give the young man a chance as he so gently put it.

Kadan and Varric both stayed out of it until plans started to be made about what was to happen next.

Well, the Qunari problem was something that needed to be addressed. They all agreed that it was highly out of character for the Qunari to attack the way that they had yesterday.

"The Arishok would never approve of such behavior," said Kadan. "I have a feeling that whoever led that company is doing so outside of the Will of the Qun. There is a traitor amongst them, a powerful one too to lead such an army."

"Great, this is starting to sound like Kirkwall all over again," mumbled Carver.

"Oh, hush, Junior," said Varric. "You know you miss those good old days."

With Carver put down for the moment, Varric mentioned that their best chance of figuring out at least what the Qunari was up to was to go to the mainland. If they approached the Rivain capital then they might be able to learn of who was leading the Qunari since the guardsmen there would have access to records that might be of value to them.

It was something to start with since they had no idea what the cult was up to, even though half of the group knew damn well that Draco knew something. Draco kept himself tight-lipped about that as he agreed that travelling to the mainland would be in their best interests. That was even considering that Urien still needed to break the Blood Seal on him by Candeleto, which would take him some time.

With a destination in mind, Zevran led the party back to the Crows' ship to find out more about the Qunari that roamed the Rivain.

* * *

Arriving to Darismund, Urien and the party made their way towards the Guardsmen Tower near by the remains of the Circle Tower. The city still remained on high alert after the Right of Annulment had been invoked upon the Circle by the Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order. Rivain traditions had been defiled by the Chantry so now the Rivain people refused to bow down before the Chantry as they set the Chantry in Darismund on fire with help from Templars who were no longer loyal to the teachings.

It was fortunate enough that the Mage-Templar War caused enough trouble for the Divine that she couldn't afford to waste Chantry resources on that particular country.

Zevran and Varric naturally led the way since they had more connections with the Rivain government. They both could grease all of the palms needed so that they could access to the records that they needed.

The city guard of Darismund only showed mild sign of resisting the party's presence. However, Zevran and Varric worked their charming magic to get them clearance inside the tower. They were escorted up to the third floor where an archivist was located.

Draco kept silent as he knew it wasn't his place to speak, especially since he wanted to see what they could do without interference.

Inside the archive, they finally met the archivist who's responsibility was to maintain city records and records for the guardsmen. He was an older looking man, but he wasn't senile at the very least so he would be of great use to them.

"Excuse me, my good sir!" said Varric. "We apologize for interrupting your day, but we need some information. You see, Llomerryn was attacked yesterday by the Dragon Cult that has been plaguing Thedas these past couple of months. But we've also had problems with the Qunari, and we just wanted to know who controls the Qunari in this area."

The old man sighed as he looked over Kadan. "I'm sure that your friend would be able to tell us more about the Qunari," said the archivist. "However, I am aware of the Qunari leader of the Rivain. He is known as Kithshok in the Qunari tongue. Kithshok are the leaders from the island of Seheron, but this lone Kithshok has been active around Rivain and Antiva lately."

"Sounds like a charmer," said Feynriel.

"Do you know of any Kithshok that have gone rogue?" Carver asked Kadan.

Kadan shook his head as none came to mind. After all, he hadn't spent much time around the Kithshok so he wouldn't know anyone in particular.

"Well then," said Urien. "Are we to take a trip to Seheron then?"

"I wouldn't think that would be wise," said Varric. "A trip to Seheron would be suicide, especially with a Tal-Vashoth with us."

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Pyra.

There wasn't enough time to think of what to do next. The ground itself began to shake before a series of roars could be heard with the party knowing that something terrible was coming this way.

It was a terrible sign; the Dragon Cult was back for round two.

* * *

Fire rained down from the sky from what remained of the Circle Tower. Dragons flews down from the sky as drakes began to roam the streets as well. The people of Dairsmund fled from the open roads to escape the attacks from the dragons as the party escaped from the archives in the guardsmen tower to see just what was going on for the city.

"I suppose it's time to fight!" said Urien as he drew out his sword.

"Attack!" shouted nearby guardsmen.

The city guard did what they could do to fend off the dragons and drakes, but these men and women were nowhere near skilled enough to fight against foes like these. They hardly fared better than anyone else has against the forces of the Dragon Cult.

Urien sliced a dragon down as he already felt weaker from his lack of magic. Fighting was nowhere near as easy as it was without having his magic to back him up.

The rest of the party faired significantly better than he was right now.

Blasting some a drake away, Varric shot the beast down with Bianca before turning the automatic crossbow to blast another drake that was coming his way. He kept his distances from the dragon breed as he knew damn well that these creatures had a nasty bite.

Kadan felt similar sentiments as he released an arrow out to pierce a dragon's wing. He shot off a second arrow, which this time managed to shoot the dragon in the throat to kill it.

More of these beasts started to ambush them with the party becoming all the more nervous about what was going to happen to the capital city. The only bright side to all of this was that there weren't many of these beasts roaming around like there were in Llomerryn.

Blocking a drake's bite, Zevran snuck away from the beast as he stabbed the creature in the throat. He sliced it open in order to help kill the beast before the drake could even attempt to bite him a second time.

Berg swung his axe around, smashing the hilt into the side of a drake. His sharp blow was powerful enough to pierce through the creature's scales as he swung the axe back around to cut it apart. He delivered a series of swings until the beast was dead before he turned around to fend off another drake's attack.

Carver and Feynriel danced together as they used their blades to take care of the dragons nearby them. Carver relied on a brute strength approach to use what strength that he could muster up to stall these dragons as Feynriel blocked a dragon's fire before kicking up an ice storm to kill the rest of the dragons that surrounded them.

Connor, Meranna, and Pyra were all around each other as they projected a magical barrier to fend of the dragons and drakes from going any further into the city. They kept the beasts pinned down in this area as they tried to work on what spells that they could muster up without shattering the shield that they had put up. Meranna started the first round of attacks as she fired a series of spirit bolts to stun the beasts for a minute. Pyra was then able to call down bolts of lightning from the sky to shock the dragons, which killed some of them from a single blast. The survivors had to face Connor as he shot a petrifying blast of magic from his eyes to bring death to those that remained.

Impressed by what he saw, Draco fended off a dragon's attack before firing a raw blast of magic to repel the dragon from him.

In the process of repelling the invasion, two familiar faces arrived into the picture. Candeleto and Beatrix stood at the center of the city square where the party had found themselves in.

Urien spotted Candeleto first as he tightened his hold on his sword as he charged towards the high priest. He wanted to bring death to the man when Beatrix stepped in with a sword in hand as she blocked Urien's attack. With her dwarven strength, Beatrix was viciously strong and fully capable of repelling Urien's attack.

Beatrix pushed the young man back, while Candeleto started to chuckle at the lad's misery.

"You're not so powerful without your magic, Cousland," said Candeleto. "It would be best if you beg for death now!"

Glaring at the priest, Urien refused to give up so easily. He spat out a curse at the old man before he reached into his pocket to retrieve a knife that he held up to his face. While he was still terrified of giving into this temptation, he knew that he couldn't run from it any longer. "You hold no power over me!" shouted Urien. Knowing what needed to be done, he couldn't hold back any longer. He needed to embrace this as he brought the knife to his wrist and slashed it just as the rest of the party got near him, close enough to spot what he was doing.

Blood quickly rushed from his wrist as Urien tapped into the power behind his own life-force. He extended it beyond the reach of the simple Mana around him as he dove deeper into the Mana that lingered within his existence. The blood responded to his call for power. Magic rushed all around Urien as the scar on his back from where the arrow hit him began to heal itself along with his own self-inflicted wound.

The seal that Candeleto placed on his magic shattered to pieces with Urien feeling all of his power return to him.

Urien gathered even more magic as he could finally taste the power on the tip of his tongue. He hurled the raw force of power at Candeleto and Beatrix, causing them both to panic as they tried to avoid getting hit. The Cultists escaped the attack, but the magic struck the ground to trigger a wide explosion that nearly swept them both off their feet.

Urien dropped the bloody knife, gasping for breath as his party stared wide-eyed at him for using Blood Magic. Their experience was Blood Magic never ended well, especially for Connor who had faced possession once. The only one who didn't seem even slightly afraid by Urien's act of magic was Draco, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Finally, the queen moved to the next position on the chessboard.

Candeleto held to his side, feeling pain from the ripple effect of Urien's spell. He couldn't believe how much it hurt as he noted that Beatrix also looked to be in pain for once as he realized that this boy's magic was beyond any Mage he had seen before.

"Damn it all!" shouted Candeleto. "Will you stop leaving us to clean up your mess, Draco?"

The smirk grew on Draco's face as he ran a hand through his hair. It looked like his fun was coming to a close as he gathered the Mana around him to cast his spell. "Fine," said Draco. "I'll deal with these flies then myself if you demand so, Candeleto."

"I knew he couldn't be trusted," said Varric as he pointed Bianca at Draco. "You can never trust a pretty face."

"You can never trust a pretty human," said Zevran as he raised his daggers. "See, my friend, I am very pretty, and I can be trusted."

"No, you most certainly can't trust a pretty human," laughed Draco as he held up his hand up into the air. "But this pretty human will do whatever it takes to protect his true family from the fools that wish us harm!"

A swirl of magic gathered around Draco before a blast of energy was unleashed. The energy took form of a wave as they pushed the party against nearby buildings as well as burning the corpses of the dragon breed and the guardsmen. Any civilians left in the area met a similar fate as the energy wave grew deadlier as it grew larger until it finally stopped within a two mile radius.

Draco blew out the light burn he felt against his hand as he approached Beatrix and Candeleto.

* * *

Amongst the first to rise, Urien retrieved his sword from the ground as it took him a moment longer to regain his vision. He recovered and saw that Draco was back amongst his fellow Cultists, which oddly enough didn't bother him in the slightest. Seeing Draco's true colors now, Urien gave out a deep sigh as he raised his sword up, seething as he glared at them all.

"Now I know better," said Urien. "If only I had realized what you were when I was a kid!"

Draco smirked as he stayed amongst his people. While there were no more dragons and drakes at his dominion, but he was still powerful enough to face them all if need be. "Or maybe you're just delusional," said Draco. "I don't think you know anything. You've barely even scratched the surface of who you are."

By then, the rest of the party was starting to stand up as well. They grabbed their weapons and gathered around Urien with a few bumps and burns on them from Draco's spell, but they were better for it. They weren't going to let some wear and tear slow them down.

"So I guess this is the part where we spill our guts about who we are," said Beatrix as she leaned against Draco. She examined her nails, smirking as the party was curious after all about what the cult was. "We are in service to the Great Dragon! We are the Holy Trinity."

"I am the Leader of the Great Dragon's mortal army," said Candeleto. "Beatrix is the Holy Warrior of the Great Dragon. And Draco is the Great Dragon's Emissary in Thedas. For Draco is the only one who can truly serve the Great Dragon's will for he holds the rare power to warp reality in Thedas and the Fade."

"Oh Candeleto," laughed Draco, "you flatterer. I'm not that special."

The trio continued to laugh amongst themselves as it became clear just how powerful they were amongst the Dragon Cult.

Draco clapped his hands together, creating a ripple in the sky. Magic spewed out with a dragon summoned to deal with Urien and his friends. It wasn't just any dragon either, it was a High Dragon.

High Dragons were the mother dragons, vicious and powerful these dragons could destroy an entire kingdom on her own. While most high dragons slept for centuries and breed more dragons, when a High Dragon decided to awaken then it was best to just give up on life. The raw power behind a High Dragon was something that could not be overcome by sheer force alone.

"Well, I suppose I can't make you see which road is the right path then Urien" said Draco as he noted the vicious look in the young man's eyes, while the High Dragon landed in the city square. The beast spewed a jet of fire into the air as she remained perfectly calm under Draco's command. "This is where we all part ways. Try not to die on me, Urien; I'd hate to have to bury your bodies so soon. Promise me though that you'll take into consideration how much you and I are alike to this dragon. "

Using more of his magic, Draco took Candeleto and Beatrix away from this place as he summoned another, smaller dragon to the city. The trio leaped on the smaller dragon's back as they fled away from this place.

The High Dragon remained behind though as the mighty she-beast was set free to trample upon the party and all of Rivain for that matter.

"And this is the part where we cry for mommy," said Varric as he raised Bianca up. "So what's the plan, Brat?"

"The crying to mommy plan sounds good actually," said a nervous Urien.

"Damn it all!" said Carver as he swung his greatsword around. "Here's the plan then. Mages, cast you strongest ice spells against the dragon. Varric and Kadan, shoot all the arrows that you have! Berg and I will be the distraction. Zevran, you have experience killing a High Dragon, right?"

"That I do, handsome," said Zevran.

"Then you can deliver the final blow!" Meranna shouted at the elf as she worked on casting her ice spell. Pyra, Feynriel, and Connor joined her as well with Urien following their example soon enough. It would take some time to pull off the necessary spell though, considering the amount of Mana that they would need to freeze something as large and powerful as a High Dragon.

Zevran took off running away from the battle as he was aware that he would need height to reach the High Dragon. He started to climb up the side of a building, avoiding the High Dragon's sight as he prepared himself by getting into position.

Carver and Berg moved out of the way of the Mages since they were on the distraction team. They waved their sword and axe around to capture the High Dragon's attention as they threatened the safety of the beast. Granted, the beast was far more dangerous to them than they were to her. The High Dragon belched out a ferocious blast of fire, luckily enough, the two were able to get away from the High Dragon's fire by getting closer to the beast to escape the line of fire.

A set of buildings weren't as fortunate though as they were quickly set aflame. The party couldn't even consider how many people were in danger at the moment as they focused instead on slaying the beast as quickly as possible.

Varric and Kadan worked on buying the Mages more time as well. They shot their arrows at any vulnerable spot that they could find on the High Dragon. Bianca's automatic fire came in handy as Varric shot bolt after bolt at the High Dragon's tail. When that proved to be ineffective, he grabbed a few tar grenades that he tossed as the beast to weigh her down some. Kadan took advantage of how still the High Dragon's wings were as he shot at them with his arrows. He worked on trying to pierce the delicate nerves of the High Dragon in order to inflict maximum damage, but even his enchanted arrows were finding trouble in sticking as they bounced off the High Dragon's flesh.

The party didn't let up though as they did all that they could. Zevran kept still on the roof, out of the High Dragon's sight but he was almost in perfect position to deliver the fatal blow.

Enough Mana was gathered in the immediate area as the Mages were ready to strike. Meranna's eyes flashed with violet energy as she was the first to launch her blizzard. Pyra, Feynriel, Connor, and Urien joined her as they added the collected strength of their magic with hers. The process caused a fierce gale of wind to encircle around the High Dragon that was positively chilling.

A layer of thick ice covered the High Dragon's flesh as it stopped her in her tracks. The High Dragon was just preparing to spew more fire from her jaw as she was frozen into a giant statue. Carver and Berg paused for a moment, exhausted from their acrobatic dancing as they tried to avoid the fire of the High Dragon.

However, the ice spell didn't last as long as they hoped. The High Dragon broke free from her frozen prison as she stepped back, now in perfect position for Zevran to strike. As the High Dragon prepared to breathe out fire, Zevran jumped from the building with his daggers out as he was so close to getting the beast. He managed to successfully land on her back as he plunged the daggers into the High Dragon's long neck, digging them as deeply as he could to severe several veins at once.

The result was the High Dragon's blood spewing everywhere as the fire from the beast's throat died out along with the rest of her. The High Dragon gave out an anguished cry before finally collapsing to the ground with her blood pooling around the streets.

Zevran jumped from the High Dragon's back, covered in blood now, with a cocky smirk growing on his face. He shook the blood from his blood-soaked daggers as he asked if they were ready to do that again.

No one volunteered themselves into that bit of insanity as they walked away from their elven companion.

* * *

The battle was over and Rivain was safe, for now. Slaying the High Dragon earned the party praise from the entire city as the people were unaware that the attack was partly their fault to begin with, but that part was kept hidden. Their reward was a delicious meal, room at the inn, and some gold coins to help fund their travel expenses.

While it didn't seem like much at all, the gold really did help out considering that they were low on funds.

Climbing up to their room on the top floor, Feynriel found Connor already underneath the covers of their tiny bed. This time, the two of them drew the short end of the stick, which is how they got the smallest room in the end. It was certainly something that neither one was used to. Connor was the son of a noble so of course he was used to grander spaces, but Feynriel was originally from an Elven Alienage so he was used to small spaces but had gotten accustomed to nicer things since the time he spent in Tevinter.

Connor was lying on his side when he heard Feynriel come in. He pulled the covers further up to cover himself up as he really didn't want to be around him right now.

"Is there something wrong, love?" asked Feynriel as he crawled into bed.

"You're a traitor," said Connor, refusing to look at Feynriel. "I know that you're working with Draco."

Flinching, Feynriel knew that he should've seen this coming. He had no means to defend himself against Connor's acquisition since it was completely true. But more than just that, he couldn't believe how careless he had been that Connor found out about it.

Feynriel tried to open his mouth, trying to explain his side of the story, but Connor cut him off before he could speak.

As much as it killed him, Connor knew that he needed to lay down the law. He couldn't deal with being around Feynriel, but he had to for the sake of the quest so he did the next best thing. "I want nothing to do with you," said Connor as he closed his eyes. "I want nothing to do with a man that I cannot trust."

What felt like a knife had plunged its way into Feynriel's heart as he knew that Connor meant it by the way that he said it. Feynriel wanted to try and mend things, but he knew that there was no point.

Trust was so difficult to gain, but fragile to maintain, and Feynriel had shattered that thin ice. Now, he had to live with his choices.

* * *

Sitting outside, looking up to the stars, Urien found himself alone after the ordeal that they had gone through today. It felt great to have all of his magic back, but the words that Draco, Beatrix, and Candeleto left behind for him just bothered him something fierce. He didn't want to believe anything those snakes said, but he knew that there was more to him than even he could understand.

It seemed that a reincarnated Old God could not know peace in this world.

Oh well, at least he had interesting friends to keep him company. A smirk couldn't help but to grow on Urien's face as he thought about the strange group of people that he had gathered into his party. They were all so bizarre in their own right, but they just worked so well together when they actually pushed themselves.

Urien liked that most of all about them all. He knew in his heart that him and his bizarre group of friends would be able to handle anything that came their way next, no matter what it might be.

They would be able to slay the Dragon and stop the Dragon Cult. Even Urien believed that he would be able to stop whatever it was that Draco was plotting since he knew that things were far from being as simple as Candeleto and Beatrix made them seem.

Rising up to his feet, Urien returned to the inn to get some sleep that he desperately needed, unaware of eyes that followed his every move.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Sailing across the sea once more, Urien and the party found themselves on the Crows' ship as a new course had been set. They had spent three days in the Rivain where they eventually learned that the Qunari that had occupied the Rivain region had moved inland towards the mountain range that connected Antiva, Tevinter, and Nevarra together. Feeling that this was their best chance to strike back at the Dragon Cult and their allies, the party made the choice to follow the Qunari.

They would return to Antiva though as Zevran intended on gathering more information for them from the rest of the Crows before they moved onward. The Hundred Pillars Mountain Range was no easy summit to climb over so they needed to be as well prepared as possible.

Urien felt uneasy about all of this as he leaned against the edge of the ship, listening to the waves crashing against them. A deep sigh escaped from his throat while he thought about the danger that they were venturing towards when he noticed that someone was behind him. He turned back, seeing that it was Meranna who was approaching the edge to stand beside him.

"I'm sorry about what happened with your friend, Draco," said Meranna as she joined him. "I'm assuming that you two were close."

"Very," said Urien as he ran a hand through his hair. "We've known each other since we were children. He was my best friend and first love."

"The first cut is always the deepest," said Meranna as she hugged her sides. She leaned her head to the side, allowing her curls to fall off her shoulder as she tried to smile at him. "Don't let the pain get the best of you though. Varric might use that as ammunition against you, Brat."

A chuckle escaped from Urien's throat as he found himself temporarily distracted from his thoughts of Draco. He didn't exactly appreciate Varric's nickname for him, especially since it was worse than the others. Connor was Rich Boy, Feynriel was Magister, Zevran was Casanova, Meranna was Raven, Pyra was Precious, Carver was Junior, Berg was Maniac, and Kadan was Hawkeye. Well, at least Urien's name was better than Draco's, which was Supreme Dick-Face.

"I guess I need to keep my priorities in check then, huh?" asked Urien as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, you do!" Meranna said, cheerfully as she locked her hands behind her back. "And if you need help, well, I'm here for you, Urien. You're not alone."

Smiling, Urien thanked Meranna for her generous offer as he decided it was time to regroup with the rest of the party. She agreed to this as she followed her lead as they went over to the rest of the party who were inside the captain's quarters, plotting out their course. Urien had needed some fresh air which is how he ended up out here with Meranna following him out.

Varric picked his head up from their map with sweat on his brow and chest hair as he spotted the two Mages. He urged them to join the rest of the group, while Zevran pushed the map in their direction so that they could see what they had done.

Examining the map carefully, Urien liked what he saw now that they had a clear objective in mind. Now, the trouble was going to be finding a way into Tevinter without raising any suspicions, but that was what Feynriel was there for. The young man had buried the pain he felt over Connor ending their relationship as he assured everyone that he would get them to the Imperium safely.

* * *

Tevinter was a land beyond imagination. It was a nightmare how people were treated in this land where corrupt Blood Mages dominated society and slaves were the targets of all the people's anger. The openness of the abuses was apparent to the party with Feynriel being the only one who easily could keep his emotions in check.

Feynriel knew these lands after spending such a large portion of his adolescence in Tevinter. He learned to control his abilities as a Dreamer from a Magister, but he was fortunate to find one who was so blindly corrupt as many of the others.

"What are we to do now," said Pyra as he kept his pointed ears hidden behind his hair.

"Try not to vomit form the stench of blood and rotting flesh," said Zevran as he wasn't as afraid as the others were. Since he was a trained assassin, a Talon from the Crows, he knew that he wasn't in immediate danger. "I'll admit though, at least now I can say that Antiva is far more pleasant. My skin is practically crawling from the pain that the elves here suffer from at the hands of the damn Magisters."

"You might want to keep it down, my friend," said Varric. "Maker forbid that a Magister hears you and has you executed on the spot."

"Considering all the enemies that I have here," said Zevran, "you might be right."

The party had a chuckle out of that as they went deeper into the city of Neromenian. They had been there for about two days now before they finally got a clue of where they were to go next.

Feynriel made contact with one of his old friends here in Tevinter where the party was able to learn about a path that would take them to Nevarra where the Dragon Cult supposedly had a base of operations.

Their clue was the Hundred Pillars Mountain Range. It was there that dragons were said to have nested so long ago before they had been hunted to the point of extinction by the Nevarran Dragon Hunters. It would make sense that the cult would pick that spot to make their nest for their precious Great Dragon.

Urien pulled out a map that they had in their possession to get a better idea of where they needed to go. He could see the mountain range and figured out that it would take them at least another two days to get there, but there was at least another town between here and there. They had a good chance to pick up some extra supplies and get a solid amount of rest before attempting to cross the mountains. But before they even reached the mountains, they needed to make it through the Arlathan Forest, the very forest where the elven city of Arlathan (Elvhenan) once stood.

"We have to avoid Draco and the cult for now," said Carver. "At least until we get to Nevarra where we can be bettered prepared to fight the Dragon."

"Do you think the hunters will be of any help to us?" asked Meranna.

"Hopefully," said Carver.

It was something that they were all hoping for because they had no idea what to expect from the Dragon Cult. Between Candeleto, Draco, and Beatrix, the odds weren't exactly in the party's favor right now. They needed to be ready for the worst that life could bring them as they prepared to make their way for the next leg of their journey.

* * *

Into the Arlathan Forest, the party could see the outline of the Hundred Pillar Mountain Range in the distance. It was hard to see it perfectly due to the vast forest, but at least it gave them an idea of how close they were. And once they made it through the mountains, then they would reach the Nevarran city of Perivantium.

The chances of finding dragon hunters or weapons that could help them slay the Great Dragon would likely be in Nevarra.

The party looked around the forest to be aware of anything dangerous that lurked here. Zevran, Carver and Varric had experienced in areas where a high quantity of elves had perished. The Brecilian Forest in Ferelden and the Sundermount near Kirkwall were famous sights that were haunted by the dead. So much blood had been spilt during the Tevinter Imperium's war with the Elves of Arlathan that many sights in Thedas became cursed.

The Veil was thin in these areas, which allowed dangerous Spirits to seep into the world of mortals. It was not uncommon for the living to lose their minds in these areas as the dead consumed them whole.

"I wish we could just rid a griffon," said Connor. "All this walking is killing me! Not to mention, I don't want to be eaten by a ghost."

"Considering that griffons are extinct," said Berg, "then the ghost thing might really happen."

"Don't scare the poor kid, Maniac," laughed Varric.

Urien shook his head at his companion as he kept close towards Meranna and Kadan. Everyone was starting to become anxious in this place as they feared what might be lurking in the forest.

So far, they had to encounter anything suspicious. No dangerous spirits had yet to jump out to attack them, which was nice. And there weren't any bandits or Darkspawn out here, which was another positive to look out for. Everyone still kept their guard up though as they continued their way through the Arlathan Forest as they kept their eyes set on the mountains and their destination of Perivantium in Nevarra.

Clearing through the last of the brush, the party eventually found a clearing where they found a lake running before them. At the center of the lake was what appeared to be several buildings that were trying to peak out from the lake.

The Mages in the group noticed that something was off about this place as well. Kadan, Berg, Varric, Carver, and Zevran saw nothing wrong with it though. The Mages approached the lake carefully with Urien being the brave one amongst them as he stepped to the front of the line. He extended his hand out now able to see what was wrong with the few buildings that pointed out from the lake as he declared that there was Mana coming from the buildings.

"This place," whispered Urien, "it…it must be the ruins of Arlathan! This is the City of the Elves!"

Long before the first of the Old Gods became an Archdemon, the Tevinter Imperium started a war against the elves. In their final battle, the Imperium made sure to sink Arlathan beneath the ground. The battle was centuries ago so by now so it was hard to believe that anything was left standing as most of the elves' past had been lost with the fall of Arlathan. This was exceptionally true until recent discoveries in some of the older Thaigs in the Deep Roads that the dwarves purposely sealed the elves that escaped the destruction of Arlathan. Their reasons remained mostly unknown to the people, but the main theory was that it was done to contain the Darkspawn that would arrive soon after the fall of Arlathan when the Tevinter Magisters invaded the Gold City of the Maker in the Fade.

"Merciful Andraste!" said Carver. "Do you really think that?"

"It's possible," said Connor.

"We have nowhere else to turn so we might as well check it out!" cheered Feynriel.

"Caution is a must though," said Kadan. "Only the elves know of what traps may lay before us."

The reminder bummed everyone out, but it was a lifesaving one. They needed to remain vigilant of the potential dangers that lurked before them as they continued to approach Arlathan from a lone land bridge that they managed to find.

Venturing further than any other mortals before them, the party would follow the bridge until they made it closer towards the buildings as they saw what they believe was to be true.

The ruins of Arlathan stood before them.

Dozens of buildings in near perfect condition were scattered throughout the place. The city was dark though as a faint amount of Mana lingered to illuminate some of the infrastructure. However, the city had obviously seen its better days as there were elves alive to keep the city functioning.

It was heartbreaking to see the fabled city, the ancient home of the elves in this state. But it still existed. Feynriel and Pyra were particularly excited to see the city since so much of the lost elven culture could be found here. If any records at all survived then it would provide Thedas with knowledge on the ancient elves prior to the rise of the Tevinter Imperium.

Their joy was short lived though.

Urien noted that there was no other choice for them but to keep moving as there were no alternate paths. They went further into what little remained of Arlathan in the surface of the lake as they tried to see if there was anything of value here that could be of use to them.

Entering the ruins, the party noted some strange noises then saw the flickering of light that marked a campfire. This seemed odd as they first assumed that looters might've discovered the ruins too, but their luck made them assume it was members of the Dragon Cult.

A new path stood out as they found a small hill amongst the buildings that would grant them a small vantage point. The party climbed up until they were eventually able to spot the people in the ruins with them. They could see what looked like to be a small unit of Kossith with banners that were familiar to them all, which led the party to realize that the Qunari was down there with them. Kadan couldn't see why the Qunari would want to be here in Arlathan.

"Are they trying to get to Nevarra too?" questioned Kadan as he held onto his bow. "Or is there something here that the Arishok seeks?"

No one could really answer that question. They kept their eyes on the Qunari though for fear of their safety as they were in a terrible position in case a fight broke out. All they could do was try to get as much space between them and the Qunari without running the risk of being spotted.

The party decided to double back in order to avoid harm with them being successful in being caught by the Qunari, much to everyone's relief. However, they weren't quite out of the red just yet. The party as they tried to find another path that they could take that would lead them further away from the Qunari.

Feynriel held onto the handle of his blade as he followed the party when he stumbled over a lower wire. The trap was set, causing a low whistle to go off which Kadan easily picked up with him knowing that the rest of the Qunari could hear too. His suspicions were correct too as the Qunari unit began to gather their weapons and immediately charge in the direction of the party.

"No sense in keeping quiet now," said Zevran as he pulled his daggers out. "It's time that we start running towards higher ground!"

"Agreed," said Carver as he took out his greatsword.

The party started to flee from Arlathan where they made it to the edge of the forest and the beginning of the mountain range when an explosion went off nearby them. The explosion, fortunately, didn't cause any instability from the mountain, which would put them, all in danger. Kadan was able to tell that this explosion was caused by Qunari weapons and not by magic which meant that they were in safe in that respect.

Pyra and Meranna conjured up a barrier in front of the party as an attempt to keep the Qunari forces back when they heard the roar of another blast. The attack struck their barrier, causing the two Mages to stumble back as their barrier struggled to stand.

The Qunari were in full force now as the large number of them was clearly visible. The party was horribly outnumbered at least ten to one, which meant that survival would be difficult at best. One of the Qunari stood out from the rest as the Kossith stepped forward in armor that represented his rank in the Qun.

"Well, this is a surprise," said the Qunari leader. "I see Mages, dwarves, half-breeds, and…a Tal-Vashoth."

Kadan took an arrow out from his quiver as he quickly took aim against the Qunari. "Kithshok!" shouted the ex-Qunari. "What is one as esteemed as you doing here in Tevinter?"

"Under normal circumstances, I would never speak to a traitor like yourself," said Kithshok, "but you all will die soon enough. We are here in fact for you lot." Kithshok raised a pair of half swords up as it was clear that he was preparing for battle. He had a vicious grin on his face that didn't go unnoticed by the party. "I see that the boy, Urien Cousland, is with you. Excellent, the Dragon Worshippers will be most please to see that we will have him prisoner."

"Excuse you, Horn-Head!" said Urien as he pointed his sword at the Qunari. "What makes you think I'll go anywhere with you? And why are you assisting those dragon, worshipping maniacs? Doesn't the Qunari hate anything to do with magic, which includes Mages and dragons?"

"Rules can be bent," said Kithshok, "especially if it benefits me! Now, men, capture these fools! I want to see what information that we can rip from their tight lips before we relinquish them to Draco!"

The Qunari howled angrily as they charged after the party. Connor immediately called for everyone to start running as he hurled a fiery blast of magic from his hand to strike their foes. The fire erupted into a powerful blast that would briefly stun the Qunari while others would perish in the flames. These precious seconds allowed the party to move up the mountains as they worked to put up more distance between them and the Qunari.

The little bit of distance wouldn't save them as Meranna and Pyra's barrier collapsed from another hit from the Qunari's blackpowder. The party would nearly lose their balance from the ripple effect as they knew that they were truly vulnerable now. The Mages, minus Pyra, started to hurl as many fireballs as they could at the Qunari in order to give themselves more leverage.

Pyra spotted a keystone in the wall that would help them with escaping. He knew that this wall would prevent a total collapse of a segment of the path up the mountain, but it would at least give them a small edge in their escape road by blocking off a small section. Gathering Mana, Pyra used his magic to pull a boulder out from the wall, causing part of the wall to come crumbling down with it to create a small block that prevented the full force of the Qunari unit to charge them at once.

The Qunari were forced to funnel themselves through a small section of the tunnel, which Kadan and Varric were able to exploit as they fired arrows. This allowed them to pick off a few of the Qunari, but not enough to really diminish the Qunari's numbers.

"Forget them!" shouted Meranna. "We need to keep running or else they will catch up to us!"

Feynriel got in the way a bit as he created a barrier at the end of the small tunnel that Pyra had created for them. He was able to keep the Qunari at bay for a few more moments as he regrouped with everyone else as they worked on fleeing. It would take the Qunari a few more moments to catch up to them, but at least now the party stood a better chance at escaping.

The party pushed themselves to go further up into the mountains as they could hear the angry yells of the Qunari that were trying to catch them. As their Qunari got louder, the party had a terrible feeling that the Dragon Cult would hear them if they truly did have a base up here.

Escaping from Arlathan's ruins, the party climbed further up the summit until they found themselves there. Varric was the first to feel that something was suspicious up here when he eventually found a small passageway that would take them into the mountains, which meant that a segment of the Deep Roads was here in the mountains. This must've been a point where the elves had escaped into the Deep Roads when the Imperium sank Tevinter.

Berg noted that the path that the party would need to take to climb down the summit was blocked. This left them with no other choice but to enter this secret Elven passage into the Deep Roads.

* * *

Outrunning the Qunari was the easy part, trying to navigate through the Elven Deep Roads was the difficult part. The party was fortunate enough that they had yet to encounter any Darkspawn in this area, which led them to assume that any Darkspawn in this area might've perished during the First Blight when Tevinter had been the target of the Old God turned Archdemon, Dumat.

The party fled deeper into the underground network of tunnels, finding themselves unable to hear the echoes of the Qunari by now. The party felt relieved by this new development as it led them to the belief that they were remotely safe now. Now, the tricky part was finding an exit to the surface, which they knew would be nearly impossible.

Pyra was clinging onto Carver's arm as he panted for breath. He couldn't run any farther, a sentiment that was shared by the majority of the party as well. "Can we…can we just focus on getting out of here?" asked Pyra. "The Deep Roads terrify me."

"If it helps," gasped Berg, "I sense no Darkspawn in the area, not even one."

Wardens had the unique ability to sense Darkspawn because of the Taint in their bodies. New recruits to the Wardens ingested the blood of the Darkspawn in order to gain the powers necessary to fight these creatures as well as to slay Archdemons. The result also led to a significantly shorter lifespan that led them vulnerable to the Call that the Darkspawn experience during their search for the sleeping Old Gods.

"At least we're mildly safe," said Varric, "but without food or clean water then we're done for."

"Then maybe we can blast our way to the surface?" asked Zevran.

Meranna shook her head as she could see that this area of the Deep Roads was very delicate. Any explosions could create a cave-in that would lead to certain death if they weren't able to create the perfect exit. She recommended that they took advantage of what supplies that they did had and rest for now.

Everyone agreed that they needed some rest considering everything that happened. The party started to prepare to set up camp as they nestled somewhere safe, or at least as safe as they possibly could get.

Shifts were established for watch in case Kitshok and his Qunari warriors found them. Carver and Pyra took the first shift, allowing the rest of the party to close their eyes and get some rest.

Placing her head on her bag, Meranna closed her eyes to get as much sleep as she could get.

_Meranna awakened in the Fade, finding herself in a replica of Arlathan. The replica was in far better shape than the real ruins so that was something. But she knew that she wasn't here for good reasons. _

_She was here because he willed it._

"_What is it that you want, Draco?" asked Meranna._

_The Fade brought Draco into view. The Dragon's Servant looked positively wicked as he pulled himself closer towards Meranna, a dark scowl on his face._

_"I came to ask why you allow yourself to be locked in shackles," said Draco. The landscape around them began to shift as they were brought to Tevinter. The streets were full of elves in shackles, young and old, male and female. All of the elves bore such pained expressions as they were forced to march through the streets where they would be sold off into slaves. "Arlathan was once a beautiful land, but humans corrupt everything that they touch. The elves made Thedas such a beautiful place."_

"_I wonder what Arlathan looked like in its prime," whispered Meranna._

"_Simply gorgeous," said Draco. "If only it still stood in all of its former glory, but like I said, humans corrupt everything. The elves fell and were made slaves. These immortals were fell, their magic virtually gone, and their culture nearly extinct thanks to humans. In hindsight, humans should've been the ones who burned instead of the elves, but it's too late to fix that now."_

_Confused, Meranna tried to see through the smoke that Draco projected. He spoke like he had seen it all and he acted like he wasn't even human, which was impossible. There was no way that it could be possible, unless…no. Draco wasn't a Demon, nor was he a Spirit. He certainly wasn't an Abomination either, but there was something different about him._

"_What sort of creature are you?" asked Meranna._

"_I could ask you the same thing, slave" countered Draco. "I can see that even you are weighed down by shackles, but I can't see who your master is. Tell me, do you know who controls your actions or do you still believe that you are a free woman?"_

_Flinching from his words, Meranna knew that she should fear Draco's words but she resisted them. She lashed out with magic as she tried to burn him away, but the magic harmlessly passed through him. He couldn't be injured in the Fade like everyone else could. _

_Draco blew a kiss at her before fading away, shattering the illusion that he had built up for her. The words echoed in the air though, crushing Meranna with his lingering words. _


End file.
